Do You Believe In ((Second) Chances)?
by M.E. Grimm
Summary: She sat alone, and Jaune knew he couldn't just pretend nothing was wrong. If Pyrrha had helped him without thinking twice, it was up to him to return the favor and be there for her. He sat down beside her and asked if there was anything he could do, and in doing so eased her worries. That was when everything changed. This is his second chance. And he will be sure to not waste it.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Greetings: So the past month and a half has been absolute Hell. A spring cold, an ear infection I am only just now getting over after a whole month, college schoolwork taking up all of my time, not listening to music with my headphones for over a month and not being able to study or write correctly because I can't block out outside noise, and to top it all off, I lost my notebook where I usually make all my notes for editing.**

 **Fun.**

 **On the bright side, I made a Tumblr page for all my interests, so if any of you guys happen to be on the Tumblr scene, look for "youweremeanttobehere" and the page "To Write Is Human, To Edit Is Divine." There I will be posting little short stories from my fanfiction universes that I write in my spare time among other things such as a list of all the fanfictions I am currently working on and the statuses of their production.**

 **So yeah, this little idea came to me almost immediately after watching the Vol. 3 finale, and in a fit of inspiration I wrote it in about a week or so. May or may not be a new personal record, but at this point, I'm just glad I'm done and putting it out there for all your viewing pleasures.**

 **And yes, the Vol. 3 ending did kill me a little inside. But hey, if you've learned anything from reading my stories, you should know by now that if you aren't pulling your audience's heartstrings, you're not telling a story correctly. Period.**

 **Case in point, this fanfiction.**

 **This is my first M-rated fanfiction and does describe sexual acts in graphic detail, so if you're not 18+, it's my obligation to tell you to please leave. I have depicted these sexual acts in the most respectful light I could manage while still keeping the eroticism, as I believe two consenting individuals making love is one of the most beautiful things to behold in this world. I do not shy away from the topic of sex, but nor do I take it lightly and neither should you.**

 **Be loving. Be caring. Be respectful. And be smart.**

 **Now without further ado, here's my tribute to the Arkos ship.**

 **Enjoy. ;)**

 **xXx**

 **Do You Believe In [(Second) Chances]?**

 _Written by M.E. Grimm_

xXx

" _What sense or hope or satisfaction could a reader draw from such an account? Who would want to believe that they never met again, never fulfilled their love? Who would want to believe that, except in the service of bleakest realism?_

… _I like to think that it isn't weakness or evasion, but a final act of kindness, a stand against oblivion and despair, to let my lovers live and unite them at the end._

 _I gave them happiness…_

… _If I had the power to conjure them… … still alive, still in love, sitting side by side…_

… _It's not impossible."_

 _-_ Ian McEwan, _"Atonement"_

" _I believe there is another world waiting for us. A better world. And I'll be waiting for you there."_

\- David Mitchell, _"Cloud Atlas"_

xXx

 _Her lips against his was an eternity contained in a single touch. Her tongue wrestling so gently against his as she whimpered and he moaned like two mewling lovebirds caught in the dawn of spring. So near to each other. Their worlds becoming one._

 _Then her apology._

" _I'm sorry…"_

 _Then her shove. He pleaded through the grates of the door, but he knew it was already too late. He knew her too well by this point to know what that look on her face meant. No going back._

 _He didn't travel any amount of distance away from her as he careened into the city. The universe dipped its hands into his world and threw him across the cosmos from where she was._

 _From where her death waited at the top of a fallen spire._

 _Jaune stepped out from the locker into another planet. He'd called Weiss, that much he knew, but nothing felt real in that single, horrible, terrible moment. He couldn't hear his own screaming, his own sobbing as he punched the concrete with a bloodied fist._

 _There was nothing he could do._

" _Do you believe in destiny?"_

 _Pathetically, he lifted his head._

 _The tower of Beacon imploded with an immaculate white light. A shockwave rattled down the tower and across the city, shaking the earth beneath his knees with a soul-quaking force. He should have run as glass windows shattered and brick walls blew apart, but he could only stare in horror as it dawned upon him Pyrrha was there in the explosion._

 _And she was gone._

 _Ruby was gone._

 _Cinder was gone._

 _But Pyrrha..._

" _No…"_

 _Pyrrha was gone._

" _No."_

 _Pyrrha was dea-_

xXx

Jaune breathed as though a new life had forced its way into his chest. It was as though he was breathing for the first time in years. But his chest receded and he listened to the sounds of his breathing, there was only the gentle whisper of air as it exited and entered his nostrils, normal as it ever had. Devoid of the panic he felt in his racing heart.

There was something else beside him, something that was also breathing in gentle rhythm beside him. Something resting on his shoulder just in the corner of his vision-

 _Pyrrha._

Pyrrha's head rested gently on the edge of his shoulder, her brilliant red hair shining in the waning autumn sun. She was here. They were both sitting along the wall of the mess hall. Jaune wasn't sure whether to weep or scream, whether to be horrified or elated as another reality existed behind his eyes like a half-remembered dream.

But as he felt Pyrrha's gentle warmth pressed against his shoulder, he was absolutely certain this was no dream…

This was yesterday.

Jaune remembered to breathe again.

This was today, before the invasion.

A golden brown leaf fell against another near his feet.

Pyrrha stirred against his shoulder. "Jaune… do you believe in destiny?"

"I dunno, I guess that depends on how you… view… it…" The words escaped Jaune's lips without his realization. They had been ready in an instant. What in the world was happening? He'd seen all of this! He'd been through all of this, what…? What was going on?

And why was Pyrrha here? Sitting here next to him, her radiant beauty beginning to wane even as he watched her speak as though a woman possessed all over again. Possessed by her fears, by her worries, by her… by her…

"When I think of destiny, I don't think of a predetermined fate you can't escape, but rather…" Pyrrha's words trailed off. She felt him staring at her and turned to see what the matter was. "Jaune? What's wrong?"

Jaune saw her eyes again, two halos of carved emerald that grew and shrunk and shifted with each of her beautiful expressions, and every emotion he'd ever felt towards her swelled and hemorrhaged beneath his chest. It had been an entire lifetime since he'd last seen their glow. His world fell silent, and his heart pounded low and hard in his chest. She was beautiful. She was so, so, so beautiful…

"Jaune… you're crying, why…?"

Jaune wasted no time. He planted a kiss against the silken skin of her cheek.

Her emerald eyes grew wide with plethora of emotions, her face blooming deep red. "J-Jaune! Wh-What's going on?! What're you-?!"

But she didn't finish before Jaune pulled her towards him and cut her off with another kiss, this one much deeper than the last. It wasn't just passionate, it was desperate, vital. It was the only thing keeping him from losing his mind right then and there, and he rolled his eyes shut as he deepened it.

At the same time, Pyrrha's eyes were wide as saucers, her heart and mind racing in a frenzy. This was her first kiss. This was her first kiss and Jaune had been the one to give it to her as she had so often hoped it would be. She'd been talking about something else beforehand, but as she opened her mouth to moan and felt his tongue plundering hers, her cares faded into nothingness and her worries receded into tiny, faint shadows. Her tongue wrestled softly against his, and she allowed the world to melt away, permitting herself ease into in his all-encompassing embrace.

Her breasts pressed against his broad chest as he laid her gently down onto the ground. From here, it was easier than ever to probe his kiss deeper into the warm cavern of her mouth. She squirmed rebelliously beneath him every once in a while, but all it took was allowing her to take another breath and then kissing her even deeper to reduce her to passionate mewls all over again. He pinned her hands to the ground beside her head, lacing his fingers between hers as their frantic breaths danced against their skin. Her arms squirmed with the last of her resistance, then gradually fell still.

Jaune eased the passion of his kiss, then ended with one final, chaste peck as he removed himself from Pyrrha. Their faces were millimeters apart as she lay beneath him on the ground, chest heaving as she worked to catch her breath from her surprise and overwhelming passion.

"Jaune…" whispered Pyrrha. She said nothing else, only held her gloved hand up to caress his cheek, running a thumb to wipe the tears still flowing freely from his eyes.

Jaune leaned into her caress and pressed his hand atop hers. Laughter and weeping boiled within him then escaped as he felt her fingers real and solid and soft to his touch. Nothing else could be said. There was nothing else in Jaune's world than this. Nothing… but her. "I love you so much, Pyrrha. God, I love you so, so much…"

Pyrrha stared at Jaune in disbelief. Not a minute ago he'd sat beside her and asked her if she was alright. Now, it was like he hadn't seen her in a lifetime. She wanted to be happy her feelings for him were reciprocated at long last, but something was definitely, _definitely_ wrong. She was beyond confused. "Jaune, what's going on…?"

"Pyrrha, I'm so sorry I hadn't noticed sooner how you felt about me. I want to make it up to you before your next match, okay? Do you want me to do anything for you? Anything at all?" Jaune held her hand tight in his. The way he looked at Pyrrha made her think she might vanish if he took his eyes off of her for even a second. On the one hand, it scared her, but on the other…

No one had ever looked at her like that. No one, except for him.

She blushed, remembering he was still on top of her. His body pressed down on hers ever so gently, the warmth of his breath commingling with hers, swirling into a cloud of raw excitement. A liquid warmth smoldered in her abdomen that only grew as she realized what it was she wanted from him. Something she had only ever felt human enough to desire whenever she was around him.

Her heart hammered beneath her breast, and she swallowed loudly to clear her throat. "W-Well, there is _one_ thing I think the both of us can do before the match…"

Jaune's face alighted from the news, and he kissed her knuckle in the rush of his joy, not quite picking up the pretext of her tentative reply. "Anything, Pyrrha. Name it. Whatever you want."

Her hand pressed against his shoulder and he fell silent as Pyrrha sat herself up. She pressed her forehead against his, then held his hand. No words were spoken, but Jaune could feel his excitement heel to her touch. She would speak, and he would listen. God knew he hadn't done so enough in the past.

"If we do what I want, Jaune," said Pyrrha, barely above a whisper, "can you promise me something?"

Jaune nuzzled her in a subdued motion, his lips gliding along her elegant jawline. "Anything, Pyrrha. I swear."

Shivers and goosebumps skittered across Pyrrha's skin and she softly bit her lower lip. Keep your focus, Pyrrha, she scolded herself. Just like your training, but… resist the urge to throw him to the ground and french the everloving shit out of him. She bit her lip again, and forced herself to speak before the image could sidetrack her further. "Jaune, after we do what I want, I want you to tell me what's going on with you."

Jaune froze against her skin, then slowly drew back from her, keeping his eyes trained on the ground. In them, Pyrrha saw a far-away look drilling deep into himself with thoughts she couldn't help but fear.

"Jaune," whispered Pyrrha. She slid her hands along his jawline to cup his face and turned him to her. The rueful glaze over his sapphire eyes cleared just a little when they fell on her, but this look she'd never seen on him before remained, nonetheless. Tears pricked at her eyes from how forlorn he seemed. Like it was both agonizing and relieving for him to even look at her. "If you love me, then promise me you'll tell me. Please, Jaune…"

His eyes darted back to the ground as he contemplated his decision. There was a twitch, a narrowing of his eyes, a scowl, then a softening as he warred within himself relentlessly. Finally, he shut his eyes with a sigh. Jaune's hand pressed against hers, and he beamed back at her with a weak but beautiful smile. "Alright. I promise, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha took a deep, relieved breath, then leaned forward to kiss him gently on the lips. By the time she leaned back her tears were gone, cleansed by a wipe of her hands and by the glow of the playful smile growing across her lips.

"Follow me," said Pyrrha.

"What?"

But Jaune was given no answer, no explanation as Pyrrha leapt to her feet and abruptly yanked him up with her. He tripped a few times before he regained his footing, but by then Pyrrha had already jogged to the building's pillars and was hopping expectantly in place.

"Come on, Jaune!" yelled Pyrrha, waving him over with a smile capable of giving light to the entire cosmos if she just turned her chin up to the sky.

Jaune's heart pounded with renewed vigor. He accepted then and there that this reality was true, then took off after Pyrrha with a pirate grin. Pyrrha saw, cried with a playful squeal, and sprinted off as Jaune gave chase close behind.

Together they ran, laughing maniacally as each tried to overtake the other while they bolted across the school grounds. This sometimes led to Pyrrha following Jaune in the wrong direction and would take her yelling at him to redirect him in the right direction.

"Sorry!" laughed Jaune whenever he returned to Pyrrha's side, always wrapping his arms tight around her whenever he reached her. As the day fell into evening, Pyrrha looked more and more like a goddess with the way her armor glimmered gold in the light, the way her crimson hair raged bright red behind her, the way her emerald eyes flashed jade whenever she smiled at him…

Whenever he held her, he could have done so for the rest of eternity. Pyrrha knew, and had to crane her neck and peck him on the cheek to bring him back. "Come on, Jaune, we're wasting time!"

Oh, how much time he had wasted. How much stupid damn time he had wasted.

That got his attention, alright. And just in time. Pyrrha was already running ahead of him and he had to sprint to keep up. "Wait, remind me where we're going again?"

"To the room!" shouted Pyrrha over her shoulder, her heart pounding all the while. She felt light as a feather, like she could take a skipping jump and fly into the air from how happy she was. For the briefest moments, she forgot all about the Maidens and the Vytal Tournament and focused only on Jaune as he sprinted ahead and had to run to keep up with him. Though the day was moving, the world seemed to only grow brighter for the two of them.

They ran into the dorms, barreling in like two love-crazed bats out of hell. Everyone turned around to see what was making all the ruckus while they ran past, but this only caused them to laugh even harder when they both noticed the bewildered looks on their classmates' faces.

They careened into an empty elevator and Pyrrha waved her Semblance over the buttons to make sure no one else could get on. She fell into his arms jittery with laughter, then locked lips with him in a breathless kiss. Pyrrha wanted nothing else in the entire world but this right here, her lips pressed so tightly against his.

Well… _almost_ nothing else.

Jaune forced himself to part from the kiss with a loud gulp of air. "Sorry, Pyrrha… I actually… have to… catch… my breath… for real..."

Pyrrha laughed with an explosion of air as she, too, worked to catch her breath. While she did, she pressed herself against him and maneuvered her chin above his breastplate, pressing her ear against his chest. The sound of his heartbeat was powerful and healthy, and she rolled her eyes shut to better listen to the gentle metronome it produced as it calmed.

"So, what is it you want to do?" asked Jaune, breaking the silence in the elevator.

Pyrrha's eyes opened. Clueless as ever, this one. She hummed a contented chuckle in her throat, the sound almost a purr as she pressed herself closer against his chest. "It's a surprise, but I've always… I've always wanted to do it. You'll see in a bit."

The elevator doors opened and Pyrrha took Jaune by the hand.

Pyrrha turned the corner into the next hallway and froze immediately.

"Pyrrha, what's-" Jaune froze as well, stopping beside Pyrrha as he saw what had so easily petrified her come into view: the two Atlesian knights standing guard outside team RWBY's dorm room.

As if on cue, the two androids swiveled their heads and scanned the two new presences in the hall with their slick, black, featureless faces. They turned back around after evidently finding nothing out of the ordinary, but their whirring and clicking as they did so ran a cold knife through Pyrrha's previously jubilant demeanor, something Jaune could clearly see. It gutted the freedom they'd so foolishly reveled in as reality poured forth in a sickening, sobering deluge. Yang breaking Mercury's leg, the arrest of a Beacon student, the Maidens…

The difference now, though, was that Jaune knew exactly what was wilting Pyrrha's mood. She couldn't move beyond it on her own, that much was certain.

But…

Jaune's eyes squared in on the graceful valley of Pyrrha's exposed clavicle, then traveled up to fix on the earring dangling from her earlobe.

He could certainly help her.

Pyrrha couldn't see, but a pirate grin sliced across Jaune's lips just before he leaned in close to her and rolled her earlobe, earring and all, into his mouth.

There was a shocked gasp, then the sound of Pyrrha panting as she recoiled from the wave of arousal that crashed over her. He lapped at her lobe, sucked and nibbled at it until her heart fluttered like a hummingbird's wing beneath her chest. "Ah! J-Jaune, wh-what're you-!"

"Room?" murmured Jaune.

Pyrrha went rigid, then snapped back into awareness. She took Jaune's hand again. Her head was dipped down and away from the androids as she and Jaune walked back into the room. As soon as the door was shut behind her, the bolt lock was slapped into place. She leaned with a heavy sigh against it, willing her heart to calm itself again. The outside world was locked out, now. It couldn't reach her here in this place.

With _him_.

"Pyrrha…"

Jaune stood there, his shoulders aligned in that familiar slouched shrug that could only be his normal posture, as he smiled at her with a wisdom in his eye betraying the usual lopsided grin he had on his face. Her heart ached at the sight, but in two different ways, threatening to split it in two. There was happiness in that handsome face of his, but also something else beneath it. Relief? Regret? Or maybe-

Pyrrha shook her head to clear the thoughts from her mind. That wasn't what she wanted to think about right now. Not now, when she was so close. Not while there was still time for her and him to…

"What is it you wanted to do?" asked Jaune softly.

Her heart drummed in her chest like a war chant. It rang in her ears as she felt her face glow red with nervousness. How would he react? What would he think? She wrung her hands in front of her. Then, Pyrrha straightened herself before him, tucked a stray crimson lock behind her ear, looked into his eyes, and said asked a trembling breath: "Do you mind if we take a sh-shower first…?"

Jaune chuckled to himself. "Yeah, I'll go first. Just let me get my-"

"T-Together…?" She glanced up at him, her hands still fidgeting and twisting her fingers. Everything about her, from her perspective, felt so hot she worried she might burst into flames the longer Jaune stayed in stunned silence. "Please…?"

It took a moment, but Jaune remembered to breathe. Now he was the one blushing a bright crimson as he turned and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Is... Is... _that_ what you wanted to do?"

"Well, not _all_ , but…" Pyrrha took a moment to breathe, herself, her face turned down in embarrassment. "I always wanted to do that with you, s-so…" She lifted her head again and Jaune could see the smile beaming radiantly on her face while she trembled before him. "I wouldn't mind… starting with that… If you didn't mind..."

"I don't mind," answered Jaune; blurting it out as he stepped forward and took her trembling hands into his own. He hadn't even noticed his own nervousness. After everything he remembered from the invasion, it felt almost stupid. But he couldn't help it. If he didn't tremble, his thoughts would deviate back to what he'd seen. Slip back into the realization that Pyrrha might have wanted this all the way up until she... until she… "Can I go get my stuff?"

Pyrrha took a moment to register what he had said was him agreeing, and laughed uneasily. "Y-Yeah, of course! I'm sorry…"

"It's fine," said Jaune, planting a peck on her cheek. "I'll meet you in your bathroom in a bit."

"Okay…"

Jaune walked to his bathroom, leaving Pyrrha standing there lost in a daze. After a little bit, she realized she needed to go and get herself ready, and walked into her bathroom. Enough sense was left in her to remember to text Nora and let her know not to come back to the dorm room for the next couple of hours. The text was sent, and not even five seconds passed before she saw Nora's reply.

(R U wit Jaunie boi?)

Pyrrha chuckled softly to herself, typed in her reply, and felt her thumb hover above the "send" button. She read, reread, then re-reread the message to help her absorb the weight of what was happening, to remind herself that it _was_ actually happening, then sent the message.

(Nora, it's happening.)

An instant reply.

(PYRRHA NIKOS YOU ARE A LIAR OR THIS IS HAPPENING)

She held her hand over her mouth to keep herself from crying out in glee while she read. Her reply was what she'd probably be squealing aloud if her heart could sing through her chest like she imagined it was doing right now.

(Nora, it's happening!)

It took a tad longer for Nora to reply. At first Pyrrha worried she might see a news report in a few seconds of an electrical explosion going off in the fairgrounds. However, Nora's message came, and Pyrrha dashed the thoughts with a chuckle while she read the response.

(Toats sorry, picked up Ren n carried him around the fair because I wuz SO PROUD OF YOU PYRRHA NIKOS! XD XD XD \^.^/)

Pyrrha held her hand to her chest and laughed quietly at the message. Oh, Nora. Just when she thought that strange girl couldn't become any more of an enigma, she'd share a moment such as this that served to remind Pyrrha how lucky she was to have such a loyal friend. Pyrrha resolved then and there that she desperately owed Nora something nice. Maybe some more cotton candy from the fairgrounds. Or another watermelon for her to smash.

(Give us two, two and a half hours?)

Nora replied, and warmth bloomed through Pyrrha from the message.

(Say no more! Consider it done, Pyrrha! Check your pills, and ROCK HIS WORLD! \^.^/)

 _Her pills._ She could remember herself preparing for the day, but for whatever reason Pyrrha felt a nervous beat in her heart when she tried remembering if she'd taken her pills or not today. She could have _sworn_ she had… hadn't she? Her thoughts were hazy from all her excitement and, not trusting herself, she went to check her sink cupboard-

The bathroom door opened and Jaune walked in wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. Pyrrha whipped around to the noise, their eyes met, and he blushed bashfully. "Sorry, I didn't want to take off my armor in here. Thought it might smell bad."

"Oh…" said Pyrrha in a low breath, pulling her hand back against her chest. She drank in the rippling hills and valleys of muscles flowing across Jaune's body. Each movement of his, no matter how subtle, caused a series of fluid tenses and easings to rumble across his lean and toned physique. If that hadn't made her blush, the thought that her training was the source of his chiseled perfection certainly did the trick. "I… I don't mind…"

It was happening. After imagining herself and Jaune and all the things she wanted to do with him during lonely nights or under the warm cascade of a hot shower, it was actually, finally happening.

"Pyrrha?"

"Huh?" Pyrrha blurted out in a fluster. "Sorry, did you say something?"

"Are, uh… are you gonna, you know," Jaune walked past her and placed his shampoo and body wash on the shower counter, then turned and cleared his throat. His eyes darted down and around her, but not directly at her.

"Oh. Oh! O-Oh, yeah, I just, um…"

"I'll look away, if you want."

"No! No, actually, um..." Pyrrha's heart raced uncontrollably, her ears burning red as she grasped exactly how unprepared she'd been for an occasion such as this. Her hands twisted her fingers around in knots and fretted Jaune was becoming more impatient the longer she didn't speak. Oh, God, she hoped he wouldn't leave. Oh, God, she didn't want to mess this up. Oh God, she hoped she didn't… hoped she didn't…

In the storm of her emotions, all her flailing about miraculously threw her into a calm center just as her panic reached its peak. Pyrrha took a long sigh to purge the whirlwind out in a cool, calm breath.

She hoped she didn't… go any further without sharing this with him. At least this one time…

"Pyrrha?" asked Jaune, bringing Pyrrha out from her thoughts. "You alright-"

With a trembling breath, she lifted her bronze circlet from her head and placed it on the sink counter with a hard, metallic clink. It was heavier than she remembered. Then, she undid the bronze gorget around her neck to expose the fair skin of her nape as she pulled her ponytail over her shoulder.

"Can you help me with this?" she asked Jaune, referring to the tied lace of her leather corset top running up her back.

Jaune stared at the base of her neck, enraptured by the radiant skin just beneath her brilliant red hair. He nodded in reply, swallowing his suddenly parched throat as he reached her. His hands shook as he fumbled with the knot, but managed to undo it after a couple of tries. The strings dangled from the holes. He pulled the tight cross-lacing loose one by one down her corset until he could see over her shoulder its hold on her breasts relax, the strings no longer holding up her bounteous swells beneath the fabric. Then, carefully as though he were performing a holy ritual, Jaune placed both hands on either side of her stomach and slid the corset gently down her hips to fall uselessly onto the ground.

What laid beneath reminded Jaune of the sculptors of old seeking endlessly to capture the elegance and grace of the female form. Her exposed back was pale as those statues and arguably just as solid as the marble, but the way her muscles curved softly beneath her skin like taut ribbons allowed Jaune to see the grace of a dancer hidden within. Jaune watched in awe as she shielded her exposed breasts with her arms and caused her muscles to ease and tense across her back in fluid motion. The sight was nothing short of divine, and it stole Jaune's breath away.

It was only when Pyrrha reached up to remove her earrings that Jaune was brought back from his stupor to notice the humming throb of his penis lifting a bulge beneath his towel. He didn't have enough time to worry about his size or his lack of technique as Pyrrha tossed the jewelry to the sink counter where it clinked against her bronze circlet. After her arms returned to her chest to conceal her breasts again, she glanced over at Jaune once more. "A-And my skirt, i-if you don't mind…?"

Hammers beat at the wall of his chest and butterflies fluttered a hurricane in his stomach. He returned to her, their bare skin just inches from contact, and reached around her waist to her belt. As he worked to pull the strap from the buckle, his arms grazed her exposed sides by accident and drew a breathless gasp sweetly from her lips. Jaune rested his chin on the curve of her neck, spied a glimpse at the low valley of her breasts bulging ripe and full in the cradle of her arms, then rolled his eyes shut as he kissed the peak of her collarbone up to the curve of her neck. Pyrrha's reaction was both graceful and visceral as a shudder coursed through her body from the contact, her elegant throat vibrating beside his ear as her notes rang across the air sweet as a songbird.

"Jaune… Oh, God, Jaune…" moaned Pyrrha throatily as she writhed against him, her arousal subject to the various swirlings of Jaune's attentive mouth sucking sweetly across her bare skin. The curve of her back slid against him like a puzzle piece fitting into the perfect slot after ages of searching, and she barely noticed when Jaune had finished undoing her skirt when she felt it and the panties she wore underneath slide deliciously down her hips to join her corset on the floor.

Jaune planted a final teasing kiss on the base of her neck and parted from her. Pyrrha's eyes opened wide with shock. The transition was complete.

Jaune's cloth fell to the ground and her breath quaked as she unwrapped her arms from around her breasts. Reaching up, she released her ponytail and let it fall in a cascade of fire-red.

Both hearts pounded in the ensuing silence. Then, after an eternity of waiting, Pyrrha turned on her heel and faced Jaune.

Pyrrha saw Jaune's penis, now fully erect and standing proudly at attention, and felt her breath escape her. Of all the women in the world to compare men's sizes, she was likely one of the least educated as to whether or not someone in real life was "well endowed." That being said, looking at Jaune as he stood naked before her made her throat tighten in fear as much as it fed the liquid flame churning within her belly. With his size, Pyrrha realized with a blush she would be getting much, much more than the usual finger sessions she was used to administering herself in locked bathrooms.

At the same time, Jaune felt his heart beat mercilessly against his sternum as he drank in Pyrrha's naked beauty for the first time. Each curve of her svelte figure was smooth yet carved out of the perfect balance of softness and hardness, with her shapes more often than not leaning towards the latter of the two. Traveling down from her trim shoulders and stout clavicle, he enjoyed the generous swells of her breasts as they hung before him unfettered by clothes for the first time. Their size was just right; twin teardrops of milky white flesh falling from her shoulders to end in full, perky handfuls as her light-pink nipples stood at attention at their apexes. Impulse whispered low and primal in his ear to dash forward, grab hold of one, and suck greedily upon it like a babe yearning to nurse. However, he withstood the urge and forced his eyes to travel lower yet, following the unblemished curve of her toned stomach, the gentle swell of muscle dividing the flat surface in a defined valley all the way to her bellybutton and lower as her toned hips arched down to end at-

Jaune's face flushed a bright crimson. He laid his eyes upon her vermillion garden of curling thistles, and just beneath, the swelling petals of her womanhood as they glistened with the nectar of her arousal. Sometimes the clear, pure viscosity made a trail tracing down the delicious curves of her toned calves, other times dripping down midway to splash onto her clothes with patter quieter than a raindrop. There couldn't have been a more beautiful sight in all of Remnant, and Jaune breathed low and labored as it dawned on him she was like this because of him.

He felt his erection pulse heartily with a libido he'd never felt before today, and the desire to hold Pyrrha tight in his arms, their bare bodies crushing into one another, was almost unbearable.

"S-So…" murmured Pyrrha, one hand curled up at her chest as the other tucked her hair up and over her ear in an empty, nervous tick. "How about that shower…?"

"Yeah. Y-Yeah! Just a sec, let-"

In his state, there was no conceivable way Jaune could have remembered to move his foot over the porcelain incline at the entrance of the shower. As a result, he stumbled and crashed into the shower with a series of loud bangs, ending with his head slamming against the shower's inside wall.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha rushed to Jaune's side in an instant, grabbing his hand as she helped him to his feet. Her hands ran through his mess of golden hair as she eased him against the shower wall with her elbow, searching for any bumps or bruises beneath his locks. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Didn't see the stupid... step…" laughed Jaune, his sentence ending in a whisper. There Pyrrha was, holding him against the wall of her shower with no clothes on, her fingers running through his hair, her breaths so close he could feel them curling against his lips. He saw the realization spark emerald flames in her eyes when she felt the heaviness of his swollen rod press against her abdomen like a fire-blasted spear. Jaune felt her hands fall down to clasp his jaw, then slide down all the way past his powerful chest and abs to trace across his hips and ending just above his thatch of blonde pubic hair.

Up close, Jaune's member was much larger than she had thought it to be at first glance, and she wrapped her fingers around its imposing girth with trembling fingers. A stifled breath caught in Jaune's throat as her graceful digits traced along the veiny exterior of his erect shaft. Her index reached his bulbous cockhead and immediately, the organ pulsed impressively to let flow a trailing dab of clear precum onto her finger. Pyrrha pressed the underside of his urethra, and watched more of the clear fluid flow down the length of Jaune's manhood while he breathed hard and panting above her. This… this was supposed to go inside her…?

"Pyrrha…" breathed Jaune, low and husky. She looked up and was caught in his kiss instantly. His arm reached around and pressed her deliciously against him while their tongues wrestled feverishly. Spittle flowed down both their gaping, gasping mouths to trail down their young, healthy, beautiful bodies in glistening trails of viscous lust. Where their skin touched, fireworks exploded. There was nothing between them, now. Nothing in the whole galaxy to prevent them from fulfilling their love once and for all.

Like before, the kiss calmed into gentle moans and licks before Pyrrha parted with a gentle pop of her lips. Her eyes met Jaune's, and she chuckled. "We should actually take that shower, now."

The low hum of a chuckle rumbling in Jaune's chest sent a swarm of hummingbirds aflutter within her. She stepped forward and turned the faucet head on until the temperature of the water pouring out was just right. Naturally, she stepped into the flow of the water like always, but was shocked when she ran into the solid mass of Jaune as he, too, stepped forward into the stream out of habit. Blushes bloomed red on both their faces as they chuckled, then Pyrrha wrapped her arms around him to pull him close against her. Nothing was said as Jaune coiled his arms around her and the two rocked together under the liberating warmth of the shower. Pyrrha pressed her cheek against his chest to listen to his heartbeat again. Jaune craned his neck to plant a kiss in the middle of her damp vermillion hair and continued silently rocking with her. For the millionth time that afternoon, Jaune felt as though he would never need to move from this spot ever again.

Pyrrha broke the silence as she spoke softly against Jaune's broad chest. "Jaune… you mind if I… wash you?"

Jaune's hand dipped low behind her, tracing low circles just above the taut muscle connecting Pyrrha's lower torso to her pert derriere. He leaned down close to her ear, kissing her temple as he spoke. "Only if you let me wash you after."

Pyrrha giggled playfully in his embrace, drinking in his presence beneath the pouring water as it traveled in and around them, squeezing through the tight gaps where their skin made contact. "Deal."

Turning away, she took his washcloth and body wash and stepped out from the shower stream to make the rag nice and soapy. Jaune joined her just as she finished. "How are you gonna do this?"

"Sexily," answered Pyrrha with a chuckle. Or at least I hope it's sexy, she thought to herself in a fluster.

Taking a deep, relaxing breath, Pyrrha pressed herself against Jaune, crushing her breasts against the solid surface of his chest, then reached around him to begin scrubbing up and down his back in small, slow circles.

"Oh my God, Pyrrha," groaned Jaune. Pyrrha hummed a giggle in her throat like bells jingling in the night, enjoying her newfound power over him. As she held herself against him, she could feel his imposing penis sandwiched between himself and her, and she grinned with impish pleasure. She finished with his back and dragged the washcloth up under his armpits all the way up his arms, one after the other. Once she had maneuvered herself around him, she pressed herself tight against his back and repeated the process with his front as she had on his back.

Listening to Jaune's heavy and labored breathing gratified Pyrrha unlike anything ever had. Feeling like quite the clever little minx, she nuzzled herself against the nape of his neck and sucked teasingly on the taut flesh there, repaying him for doing the same to her earlier. "Sexy enough for you, Jaune?"

Jaune was brought out of his stupor by her whispers, and he hummed another low chuckle. His hand reached up to hold hers as he stoked it lovingly, kissing the fair knuckle before placing it back down on his lower stomach. "It's perfect, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha found herself blushing harder and harder all throughout this day, but felt herself reaching a new level of bashfulness. She probed her tongue against his neck and sucked graciously against the skin. Her chuckle vibrated against his, and she smiled. "Thank you, Jaune."

"But, ah…" said Jaune, groaning as his breaths became ever more strained. Pyrrha could feel a rigid tension coursing through Jaune as his proud erection began to quiver bright red out before him. "It's kinda embarrassing, but I'm, ah… close."

Pyrrha's heart fluttered beneath her breast. She wasn't naive enough to not know what he was talking about, but knowing she'd brought him to this so easily sent a wave of pride through her. She'd read so many books of princesses and pirates, of lovers caught in the throes of passion. The thought she had finally found herself in one… exhilarating wasn't a proper enough word to describe how she felt.

With courage coursing through her, she stood on her toes and pecked his ear. "Just relax."

Jaune turned just in time to watch a sight unfold he never once even dreamed of coming true. Pyrrha now knelt before him on the shower floor as she stared in awe at his twitching penis protruding proudly before her. He could see her lick her lips in preparation, then felt his heart almost stop when she took his organ in her hand and glanced up at him with her beautiful emerald eyes.

"Don't hold back," she whispered.

Without taking her eyes from his, she ran her tongue across his cockhead to lap up the precum pearling at its tip. He grit his teeth and went rigid with pleasure, his hands falling to thread through her hair as she bit and nipped and sucked reverently all along his veiny shaft, even going so far as to press his cock against his abdomen to taste his heavy testicles all the way up his pulsing urethra.

That was when Pyrrha stopped to take a breath, grinned impishly up at Jaune, and took his penis reverently into her mouth. Jaune cried out in a strained voice, his fingers digging softly into her crimson locks as she managed to swallow enough of him that she could feel the curls of his pubic hair tickling her nose before receding again. Pyrrha hadn't cleaned Jaune down here yet, but a filthy place in the back of her head was secretly glad she hadn't. His taste was raw and musky, the scent heavy and masculine. The smell of a man. _His_ smell. It drove her wild, and she felt her free hand falling down between her legs as she fiddled with herself in the excitement.

However, she felt Jaune's fingers beginning to curl tight into her hair as his tense trembles grew into subdued bucks. He jerked his hips in small, thrusting motions into the accepting cavern of her mouth. She knew it before he even said it.

"Pyrrha, I'm-!"

She removed herself from his twitching cock with an obscene, wet sucking sound and rubbed him up and down, sweetly kissing his quaking shaft as she turned up to him with an expectant expression in her lust-clouded eyes. "I know, Jaune... Just let it all out…" she whispered, dragging her tongue sensually up the bottom of his manhood to end with a kiss on its swollen, purple head, "I want to taste you, Jaune… Don't hold back..."

"A-Ah-! Agh!" Her lewd request was enough to send Jaune careening off the edge as he held Pyrrha's head and gave a final, resolute thrust of his hips. With a sound like a low growl through his clenched teeth, Jaune felt his testicles clench as a flood of fat, white semen surged forth in a healthy stream into Pyrrha's mouth. She could feel the sticky fluid coating the inside of her throat while she worked feverishly to swallow all that he was giving her. With each twitch, another stream of Jaune's seed billowed forth onto her tongue, allowing her only a few precious seconds to enjoy the masculine flavor before it cascaded down her throat to make way for the next inevitable salvo. Her hands gripped his taut buttocks as his load filled her mouth to near overflow, his thrusts against her mouth weakening as his surging orgasm eased his steady stream of semen down to a gentle trickle.

At last, Pyrrha could feel his manhood begin to fall flaccid in her grip. Still trembling from the orgasm she had achieved feeling the first of his many healthy deposits, she felt Jaune's hands fall to hold her head as she removed herself from him with a wet slurping pop. A thin rope of semen connected her lips to his faltering cockhead. Feeling rather confident, she caught it in her fingers and opened her mouth to show Jaune her mouth filled completely with a pool of his cum as she added the flimsy rope to the wealth she'd kept.

Jaune could hardly believe the sight before his eyes. Pyrrha Nikos naked on her knees at his feet, after having swallowed most of his cum of her own accord, as she playfully displayed a mouth filled with his thick, white seed she'd kept just to tease him. Would it be demeaning of him to say she looked beautiful to him even like this? In such a raw and sexual pose most people dreamed of seeing for themselves, placing themselves as her object of fancy for this or lewder fantasies; here she was performing this unbearably sexual act simply because… she loved him.

He ran his fingers down from the sides of her head, stopping to rub her cheeks with his thumb before snaking two of his fingers into her open mouth. The pool of semen she'd collected was still warm to his touch, and just by touching it he could feel life already returning to his dangling manhood. If that wasn't enough, Jaune found it unbearably sexy to listen to her moans and mewls while he dragged his fingers up and around the insides of her mouth. She was his instrument, and no matter how he played her, the notes always seemed to come out just right.

Jaune's heart swelled. He lifted his fingers from the white pool in Pyrrha's mouth, her yearning tongue prodding up from the depths as though pleading for it to stay, and felt a reviving wave of arousal overwhelm him as he watched his own cum stick to his fingertips by long, spidery threads. His hand fell back to her cheek, the strand of semen causing her to flinch as she felt its waxen stickiness harden against her skin. Her eyes, clouded with lust, met his, beaming with love, and he hummed a chuckle to himself. "You're so damn beautiful, Pyrrha…"

Her eyes flashed with her smile, and she arched her chin up to swallow when Jaune stopped her. "Oh- Wait!" Her neck pulsed, swallowing a small amount on accident before she cocked her head sideways with a puzzled expression equal parts nymph-like and adorable. "Do you mind not swallowing it… at least for a little bit? I've got something in mind I want to try out, and…"

Pyrrha hummed quaintly from his sweetness and nodded her head. Jaune breathed a small, excited laugh and took her hands to help her stand again. Their eyes met, the first exchange of love having changed them irreversibly from the friends they once were upon waking this morning. She had accepted his seed so willingly. It was time for him to return the favor.

Jaune smiled warmly, then planted a gentle kiss on Pyrrha's cheek. "My turn."

Pyrrha squeaked when his arm snapped around her waist and pressed her tight against him, remembering to breathe through her nostrils so as to not ruin what he was planning too early by accidentally swallowing. As if he read her mind, he even whispered hotly against her ear: "Remember, don't swallow yet…"

She nuzzled him in compliance, but whined in ecstasy as she felt the soapy rag slap against her skin and slide with agonizing tedium in a line down the middle of her writhing back. One of his hands moved the rag to leave a soapy trail across her body while the other lathered it teasingly all across her supple figure, his hands kneading her nubile curves, fingers teasing her in all the right places. If her mouth wasn't full, Pyrrha imagined she might have been singing like a mockingbird in verdant springtime, calling out in ecstasy for her loving mate to keep touching her so sweetly, so carnally, so as to never go another day without feeling so loved ever again.

"You're beautiful," whispered Jaune against her neck while he nipped playfully at her vibrating skin. She could feel his hardness once again fully engorged as it prodded against her yearning stomach. Instinct was driving her wild, her hips undulating deliciously against his burning organ as she felt tendrils of searing pleasure beginning to thread their way up and down her body.

The washcloth glided all along her arms, his technique careful as though he were a practiced monk polishing a most holy artifact. Her skin glistened like alabaster in the light wherever he was finished cleaning. Never in her entire life could Pyrrha say she felt like she was a queen, but when he turned her to begin cleaning her front, it was certainly the first time someone had shown her so much care, so much love in so simple an act as bathing her. She felt royal. She felt divine.

For the first time in Pyrrha's life, she wasn't being respected. For the first time in her life, Pyrrha knew she was being _loved_.

"You feel good?" asked Jaune in a low, sensual rumble against her ear.

Pyrrha could only mewl helplessly in response. She was a slave to his whims even if she was his idol of adoration. The cloth lathered her breasts in clear white soap while his other hand freely indulged itself with the pert fleshiness of her shapely mounds, sliding up and around them while giving each one a playful squeeze upon passing. Her toes curled against the slick surface as his teasing sent tendrils of raw pleasure in a flashing frenzy within her. Her hand reached up to run her fingers through his golden locks as he sucked selfishly at the nape of her neck.

While the cloth continued its assault on her breasts, his free hand snaked its way insidiously down the trim valley of her abdomen where his fingers curled to caress the swollen petals of her womanhood. Pyrrha heard the obscene wet sound of Jaune's fingers trailing against her glistening vulva before she felt them dragging along her most secret of places. On reflex, she bucked her hips and whined high and shrill within her throat, still fighting the impulse to swallow as faithfully as she had been all throughout Jaune's teasings.

"You know, you seem pretty embarrassed about being so wet, but I still can't believe I'm the one who made you this way," whispered Jaune with a sweet and genuine chuckle, giving her cheek another loving peck as he probed his fingers into her writhing depths. "It's flattering..."

Pyrrha threw her head back in ecstasy, throwing herself side to side before burying her face into his neck and whimpering pitifully as he continued to mercilessly pump his fingers in and out of her sopping petals. In the back of her mind, she was curious as to whether or not her future masturbating would be able to match the same fervor and deftness of Jaune's fingers as they worked in and out of her with their gentle, methodical, excruciatingly erotic rhythm.

"... So I want to give you something in return…"

Pyrrha opened her eyes long enough to see Jaune fall to his knees in front of her and lift her leg over his shoulder. Her eyes went wide, then Pyrrha's world went white as Jaune wrapped his mouth around her glistening vulva with a kiss and probed his tongue deep into her writhing depths. As he had with her, Pyrrha's hands instinctively flew to his head as Jaune rolled his eyes shut and relished the flavor of her arousal. It was beyond erotic, reminding him of how he'd smelled the scent of cinnamon and vanilla floating above her skin. A powerful feminine spice whose taste let him, as her male mate, know she was healthy and overwhelmingly, _powerfully_ sexually active. The knowledge made him smile, and he plundered his tongue deeper into her writhing innards to sate his hunger for the fine nectar pouring fourth from her.

Above him, Pyrrha squeaked in short, panicked breaths as her kneading fingers dug into his hair. This was it. She was close. He redoubled his efforts and reached up to take her hand while he guided her affectionately to the orgasm he so dearly wanted her to achieve.

The world around her expanded as her senses crawled up each of her body hairs in a rush of pure sensation. Whether it was his tongue or the mere fact that she was here, with him, sharing her most intimate places with him, Pyrrha felt the tendrils of pleasure snap behind her eyes as her orgasm set off fireworks across her body. Her toes curled tight and every muscle in her body pulled rigid as Jaune drank in her flowing nectar as though it were the finest wine in all of Remnant.

The initial shuddering subsided, and Pyrrha slumped limply against the shower wall. A brief roll of her tongue let her know she still carried Jaune's seed inside her, though she could feel it beginning to cool and harden along the farthest walls of her mouth. For a brief second she feared slipping down onto the floor, but Jaune lifted himself and crushed her against the shower wall to keep her trembling legs from giving out. Jaune smiled kindly down at her, admiring the peace in her post-orgasm glow until their eyes met and stayed fixed for a few moments.

Jaune's hand reached up to lift her chin. Pyrrha opened her mouth without hesitation, showing him that she still kept his semen. He chuckled, then opened his own mouth to display the small pool of Pyrrha's own fluids which he had kept for her.

Without warning, Jaune pulled Pyrrha's lips to his and formed a seal as he let pour Pyrrha's nectar into her mouth. The sexual concoction stirred and tossed between their mouths as their tongues wrestled desperately against one another, their combined tastes granting them a passion not the likes either had ever experienced ever before. The trembling in Pyrrha's legs all but vanished as she stood on her toes and jabbed her tongue deeper into his mouth, moaning and mewling while she surrendered herself to the feelings welling up deep inside of her. If she had enjoyed Jaune's taste, she loved _their_ taste a hundredfold more, and probed her tongue to taste as much of it as she could. For Jaune, it was much of the same. The idea never crossed his mind to know the taste of his own semen, but as its flavor danced in tandem with hers across his tongue he found the whole idea too arousing for him to comprehend, and he pulled her tight against him to take a few final, gentle licks.

They stood there for a few, fleeting moments, completely still. Every few seconds, a tongue would shift against the other's before falling flaccid again, simply enjoying the peace which came after sharing such a powerfully intimate moment with their mate for the first time. After an unknown amount of time, Jaune retracted himself from Pyrrha with a kiss and a breathless laugh. "Now… you can swallow."

Pyrrha pounded his shoulder half-heartedly, then she, too, found herself sharing in his laughter. Their eyes met again, and Pyrrha smiled as she lifted her chin to let him watch while she allowed the last of their combined fluids slide with a pulse down her graceful throat. A sexy little shiver rattled her shoulders when she realized how hot her belly felt now that it was so completely full of Jaune's seed. She rolled her eyes back up to him as he, too, smiled, then lifted his chin to let her watch his adam's apple bob with the swallowing of the remaining fluids he carried as well.

"How did I taste?" asked Pyrrha with a whisper and a blush.

Jaune held her close against him, pulled a wet strand of spun crimson from her face, and kissed her on the temple reverently. "Like cinnamon and vanilla."

Pyrrha leaned into his kiss, hummed contentedly as she dipped her head to kiss his collarbone.

"How did _I_ taste?" asked Jaune.

Again, Pyrrha hummed, then rested her chin on the crook of his neck as she scrunched her face and chuckled softly. "A little salty, and a little bitter."

"Oh. Sorry," mumbled Jaune, a little dejected. "You don't have to do it again if you don't want to, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha kissed his neck, giggling from the earnest tone of his response. "I didn't say I didn't like it. Yeah, it tasted salty and a little bitter, but… there was something else about it… made it taste almost…"

"Healthy."

They both said it at the exact same time. Both pulled away slightly to stare at one another, then broke into another bout of laughter before allowing a contented silence to fall between them.

Pyrrha dipped her head, her heart fluttering in her chest as she wrapped her arms around Jaune in an embrace like the ones she used to give him before today. The kind she'd give to a friend who had changed her life forever. "Thanks for this, Jaune. This really was wonderful."

"Yeah, well…" murmured Jaune, accepting Pyrrha in his arms. He pulled aside her scarlet curtain of damp hair over her shoulder, planted a wet, sucking kiss on the nape of her exposed neck, and grabbed hold of her shapely right buttock with a groping hand. Her shocked reaction sang across the bathroom like a siren's song as he felt her heart flutter excitedly against his chest. He licked and kneaded her mercilessly for as long as he could make her sing. When he was done, he graciously kissed her exposed skin and gave Pyrrha's fleshy cheek one final, teasing squeeze before whispering low into her ear: "... We're not done yet, are we?"

Pyrrha looked up at him with tears in her eyes from her exertions, then puffed her cheeks at him with faux-irritation. "Jaune, you bully…"

Jaune of course laughed at this, then she smirked playfully up at him and he fell silent. Her movements were sultry and nymph-like as she turned herself around and placed her hands on the shower wall, shifting her hips to keep his eyes fixed on her toned, shapely legs glistening with water and the fluids of her arousal. Jaune's heart thrummed low in his throat as he watched her spread her legs slightly to display her womanhood in its fullest, thickest bloom. Of course, his body reacted accordingly, and when he looked down at himself, saw his erection standing tall and proud as it pointed imposingly at Pyrrha's entrance.

Nothing was said between the two. No coy teases or playful quips. Pyrrha's cheeks were blood red, her breaths trembling and labored, her emerald eyes muddied with a glossy film of lust as they fixed on Jaune and his throbbing member over her shoulder. There was a silent pleading to be had her eyes, one that compelled Jaune to simply stride forward, mount her like a stallion mounts a mare in heat, and rut with her until he was well and truly spent inside her.

However, this was not all he could think about when he saw her. Believe it or not, an occasion such as this between himself and Pyrrha had come to his imagination before, and as such he forced himself to think before he acted.

He did, indeed, walk up behind her and press his weight against hers, softly crushing Pyrrha against the wall. However, Jaune lowered his stout rod just beneath Pyrrha's soaked petals to graze the surface of her lower lips, forgoing penetrating her for the moment as the sensation of their genitals making contact caused them both to take sharp breaths. So close, and yet…

"I don't have any condoms on me, Pyrrha," said Jaune, whispering hotly against Pyrrha's ear. "Is today a safe day for you?"

Pyrrha's heart fluttered and fell cold at the same time. She hesitated for a moment as she wracked her brain to try and think if she had taken her pill today or not, but it was impossible for her to think while he was here behind her, driving her mad with arousal as they were so close to finally being…

She waited too long to answer and she knew it. She blurted out the first thing that came to her mind in order to save face. "It should be a safe day…"

"Pyrrha…" whispered Jaune. He knew it was a lie, or at least not the entire truth. Either seemed enough for him to pull back and deprive Pyrrha of her passionate stupor as he turned her around to face him. "How long has it been since your last period?"

Pyrrha's eyes darted around then dipped, ashamed. Why in the blazes couldn't she remember something so simple, so basic as her monthly cycle?! She clenched her jaw to concentrate, but the harder she tried to think, the harder her memory was to grasp, and Pyrrha gave up with a frustrated sigh. "I don't remember, Jaune… I'm sorry…"

Jaune shook his head and was about to turn to exit the shower when-

" _Jaune, wait!_ "

Pyrrha grabbed his arm as though a matter of life and death. Her mouth was open, her eyes wide as they pleaded for him to stay, but her expression faltered when she realized quickly she had no excuse to give him. No reason for him not to be concerned about going forward with so many unknowns. "Please Jaune, just…"

"What is it?" muttered Jaune, turning back around if only because of how broken she looked knowing she had been the reason the mood was now gone. He couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand her looking so sad.

"I just…"

Jaune returned to her and ran his hands gently up and down her arms, relishing the softness of her skin and the tautness of her muscles beneath like carved marble. He felt her trembling like an autumn leaf and remembered how human, how vulnerable she actually was. Jaune didn't say a word.

"If this is the first time we're gonna…" said Pyrrha, her voice hardly louder than a mumble, "You know…"

"Have sex?" said Jaune, flashing a crooked grin.

Pyrrha laughed, her tension easing slightly as she smiled. "Yeah, that." She was silent for a fleeting moment, then she turned her chin up and met his gaze with clear eyes. "I want our first time to be just us. With nothing between us."

Jaune pressed his forehead against hers, chuckling as he felt his penis growing with renewed vigor from her request and the realization she had wanted this with him all along. Which, of course, led him to another, unexpectedly arousing consideration which immediately came to mind. "Even if you might get pregnant?"

Jaune could feel the slight shiver coursing through Pyrrha as she digested the thought with a shuttering breath. Whether or not that was a good or bad sign was lost on him when she pressed herself into his embrace and buried her face into his neck with a warm, childish little nuzzle. Of course, Pyrrha _had_ taken into consideration the possibility of becoming pregnant with Jaune's child if she wasn't careful. However, the prospect hadn't worried her nearly as much as it probably should have. In fact, the idea was… well, _unrealistic_ , as things currently stood. What with the both of them still being students in school.

But the idea, itself… excited her. No, more than that. If she happened to accidentally become pregnant because of this… to bear a child, _his_ child, as a product of their love…

" _Iwouldn'tmind…_ "

"Hmm?" mumbled Jaune, not quite hearing what Pyrrha had just said under her breath. "What'd you say?"

"I said I could… find a morning-after pill or something like that, from Nora," said Pyrrha, turning her head up to smile meekly at Jaune. "If, you know, nothing else…"

Jaune felt her hand rise up to rest on his chest, just above his beating heart, while her eyes flickered down between them. He followed her gaze and saw her take his hand in hers, pressing both atop her smooth stomach, just beneath her belly button.

"I don't mind risking it," whispered Pyrrha, her breath trembling as her eyes rolled back up to meet Jaune's, "If… it's with you, Jaune."

Jaune's heart hammered against his chest, his throat suddenly devoid of all moisture as the weight of Pyrrha's words fell into his comprehension. He knew Pyrrha loved him, and he her, but this was something else entirely. He'd hoped, but he'd never dreamed Pyrrha would ever go so far as to tell him she wouldn't mind… having his child. God, the thought whirled in his head. The risk was real, and the risk was something he took very, _very_ seriously not for himself, but for her; always she came first in his mind. It was beyond irresponsible, it could ruin their own lives as well as the life of… their child should Pyrrha choose to keep it at her age. He wouldn't take raising any child of his as a half-hearted consequence, should he ever have one with Pyrrha or anyone else. A child of his would be no accident. His child… he would dedicate his life to give it the whole world…

But when Jaune looked into her eyes; those beautiful, glimmering, immaculate emerald green eyes; he saw a woman who'd already come to peace with this fact. And to his everlasting amazement, he felt that whatever happened after this moment, he knew as well as she did that it would be faced with her by his side, no matter the squall.

She and he would walk into the future hand in hand.

 _Together._

Wordlessly, Pyrrha turned away from Jaune and slowly pressed herself against the shower wall. Water clung to her like diamonds glimmering along the smooth surface of her glowing skin, and Jaune had to remember to breathe as he watched Pyrrha offer her glistening womanhood to him once again.

"You're so beautiful…" whispered Jaune.

Pyrrha hid her face behind her shoulder, her cheeks blooming crimson as her lashes fluttered. She turned her bashful gaze away from his sight. "Thank you…"

Jaune stepped forward once again to press Pyrrha gently against the shower wall. Pyrrha immediately squeaked a small gasp as she felt him fit so sweetly into the curve of her back, then gasped again as she felt the tip of his fully-erect penis press at her swollen opening and stopping. Her puffy vulva parted ever-so-slightly from the contact, and a wonderfully sensual shiver trickled its way up her spine. It was finally happening. Jaune was finally going to…

One of Jaune's arms wrapped securely across Pyrrha's stomach, the other around her waist, as he leaned over and planted a kiss beneath the nape of her neck between her shoulder blades.

"I love you."

His girth slid its way into her for the very first time, throwing Pyrrha's head back in a throaty, orgasmic howl between a cry and a scream. The sound spurred Jaune's fervor, and he growled as he forced himself deeper into Pyrrha's writhing depths, as far as he could possibly go. He buried his face into her hair clinging to the nape of her neck and drank in her rich, feminine scent, reveling in the fluttering cries escaping her lips.

Then, Jaune felt himself suddenly halted at a thin, rubbery barrier and stopped immediately to catch his breath. Pyrrha's torso expanded and flattened in rapid breaths against the wall, her forehead pressed against the tile as she, too, worked to overcome the fervor which left the both of them completely breathless. After a moment, Jaune leaned himself beside her ear to nibble playfully at her lobe. "Pyrrha…"

Pyrrha turned to Jaune with eyes heavy and half-lidded. Their gazes met, their panting breaths swirling in the space between. Pyrrha knew what Jaune was asking of her instantly and she smiled. Such a gentleman, she thought with a girlish giggle, leaning her face to nuzzle his as an answer to his question.

Jaune responded with a breathless laugh of his own, then kissed her shoulder while he reared himself back and thrust with a force making them both jump with the contact. Pyrrha screamed aloud, then dipped her head as her painful protests reduced themselves to whimpers strained through her grit teeth. Nothing had ever been so deep inside of her ever before, and the pleasure and pain of her finally becoming a woman didn't give her a lot of time to contemplate this as she felt Jaune's member fitting its way ever-deeper into her, even while she mewled like a wounded kitten.

Jaune, hearing her pained scream, showered her with loving kisses from her neck all the way up to her cheek. "I'm sorry, Pyrrha. Does it still hurt?"

"I-It's fine, just…" whispered Pyrrha as she turned to face Jaune with a pained smile, her entire body trembling from the sudden invasion and penetration which had just occurred, "... keep going…"

Jaune kissed Pyrrha on her cheek long and hard, then eased himself further into her. It wasn't long before Jaune felt himself bottom out within Pyrrha, the tip of his cock nudging itself snugly against her cervix. A shiver ran through him. He couldn't believe he had been given such access to Pyrrha and that he was so close to her innermost sanctuary. Where the fruit of their union could very well grow should either of them be so careless in where Jaune was to spill his seed.

"Jaune…" breathed Pyrrha. She could feel him reach his end inside of her as well, and she pressed his hand just above her taut abdomen where they both could feel his hardness beneath her skin. A contented sigh hummed from Pyrrha's lips as she turned over her shoulder to kiss Jaune long on his cheek. Tears glittered in her long eyelashes like diamonds. "You feel so wonderful inside me…"

The weight of the situation fueled Jaune's passions and he reared back to thrust into Pyrrha with a huff of air. Of course, he did this soft enough to not hurt Pyrrha after her defloration yet firmly enough that she gave a satisfied gasp letting him know she enjoyed his vigor. Beneath him, Jaune could hear the faint sucking sound of her shifting innards whenever he pulled himself back for another thrust. It was as though her body instinctively knew of his retreat and pulled yearningly at his manhood to keep it from leaving, which came close to driving Jaune positively mad with lust each time he did so. However, for each of his agonizingly sensual withdrawals, he would pound himself back into her with threefold vigor. Often it was enough that his swinging testicles would slap atop Pyrrha's protruding clitoris and draw forth a particularly throaty gasp. Jaune repeated this process over and over again, reveling in his mate's lustful cries as he steadily increased the tempo of their union.

"Oh! Oh, Jaune! A-Ah!" cried Pyrrha. A particularly powerful thrust threw her head back and sent a howl of pleasure from her lips, her hand flying up to run through Jaune's hair as he panted and grunted hotly against her ear. She made sure to hold him there, the primal heat of his rutting making her think of him as a stallion out to stud and her as his mated mare he had chosen to mount. "Don't stop, Jaune… Please, don't stop…!"

"Pyrrha…" groaned Jaune. He was slamming into her now, the obscene slap of his hips against her rear fueling his lust and her loving pleas to him fueling his love in equal measure. In his daydreaming he'd hoped he could give her pleasure, but now he knew he was giving her much more. As Pyrrha caressed his head in groping, soothing circles through his golden locks, Jaune felt his lust and his passion rise in tune with her own like a connection incapable of existing in any other medium but the wonderful, beautiful spontaneous universe created between two mates making love for the very first time. What he was giving her was so much more than just a base pleasure of the senses. What they were _sharing_ was the exchange of the last, final inches they hid to all others, now come to fruition in this one primal, lustful, and loving moment.

Their mark of their love would soon be shared, and Jaune could feel his end coming soon with each thrust he gave. Pyrrha thought she could feel this in him as well, what with his girth starting to twitch, his breaths becoming more erratic, and his thrusts becoming more forceful and desperate into her. But at the moment she was aloft in the swirling chaos of her own encroaching climax as Jaune's hands slid up and down her body to hold her so sweetly against him. It drove Pyrrha absolutely wild when he abandoned groping her breast and instead pressed his open palm against her tight stomach, just above her yearning womb. The gesture was purely instinctual, and she knew at that moment he was just as close as she was to the climax they both so dearly craved.

Excited by the notion, Pyrrha turned her head and planted another panting kiss against Jaune's cheek. "Jaune… I'm about to…"

Hearing Pyrrha confess flipped a switch deep within Jaune he hadn't even known had existed before that very moment. He removed his manhood from Pyrrha with a loud, wet sucking sound and turned her around to face him.

"Jaune, what-?" was all Pyrrha could get out before Jaune weaved his arms behind her legs, hefted her up against the shower wall, and impaled her on his girth with a violent thrust. Pyrrha would have screamed in pleasure, but Jaune had pressed himself against her to keep her from falling and drank in her arousal with a deep and passionate kiss. Pyrrha's eyes rolled shut, and she wrapped her arms and legs tight around him, simply holding on for dear life as Jaune pounded into her like a man possessed.

Jaune's parting from the kiss was like ripping open a wound. But as he saw her there held up by him against the shower wall, the emerald halos of her eyes half-opened and murky with helpless arousal, her breasts heaving against his chest as he felt her tight nipples digging into his rippling body, and his penis impaling her relentlessly, he knew he had to tell her one thing. "I love you, Pyrrha…! I love you so much!"

Tears formed in Pyrrha's beautiful eyes, and she gave a sobbing laugh as she pulled Jaune's lips to hers again and again, peppering him in wonderful and joyous kisses. "I love you, too, Jaune! I love you!"

"I love…" gasped Jaune as he felt his organ expanding beyond his own control. He grit his teeth and pounded Pyrrha against the wall harder than ever. He was close. So amazingly, tantalizingly close, that he could feel the twitches of his swinging testicles quivering like a bowstring pulled as far as it can go, prepared for the coveted release.

"Do it, Jaune… Let it all out inside me…" gasped Pyrrha, planting another kiss on his lips before holding his face in her hands and pressing her forehead to his. Their eyes met in the calm of their passionate storm. Jaune felt himself entrapped by the beauty and love she radiated like an angel made flesh. Pyrrha felt herself glow and her heart flutter as he looked upon her like a holy goddess. There was nowhere she would rather be, no one he could love more, nothing in all of existence that could keep their union from becoming complete in this one final, beautiful moment.

"Do it, Jaune…" whispered Pyrrha, her lips brushing sweetly against his ear as her mutterings willed Jaune like a siren's call. "Do it for me…"

The bow string snapped with a powerful, guttural sound akin to a growl as Jaune gave one final thrust and poured forth his rich semen in a healthy deluge into the woman he loved. His cockhead kissed Pyrrha's cervix to create a seal as his cum surged in powerful jets, painting the walls of her womb over and over and over again. She could feel each searing burst of Jaune's seed as it filled her deepest places full capacity as it served to bring Pyrrha to her desired orgasm as well with a wild, strangled cry of purest ecstasy. Her fluttering cry reverberated across the bathroom, her toes clenching as she rode out the crashing crescendo of her spasming body against Jaune's solid form. Her writhing innards clenched and jerked around Jaune's exploding member, and he cried out as a second salvo of his thick payload was delivered into Pyrrha's already full womb. With nowhere else to go, his sticky wealth leaked out of Pyrrha's sore womanhood to trickle down his trembling legs or to slide off the smooth surface of her posterior, falling onto the shower floor in loud, heavy dollops.

Pyrrha whimpered softly as she felt Jaune's overwhelming warmth against her, around her, and inside of her, and she clung to him weakly as she shivered the last of her orgasm pressed against his chest. When she shifted her hips to tighten her legs around his taut buttocks, she could feel what must have been a gallon of healthy semen sloshing around inside of her and a sexy shiver rattled through her spine at the thought. Like a kitten nibbling on a treat, Pyrrha nipped playfully at the base of Jaune's neck as she giggled warmly against his shoulder. "There's so much inside me…"

Jaune laughed breathlessly, then wobbled as he lowered his trembling legs to sit himself and Pyrrha in his lap on the bathroom floor. He brushed his cheek against hers, and laughed as he kissed beneath her ear with a teasing nip. Pyrrha giggled incessantly, half-heartedly slapping his broad chest, and then parted to drink in the love radiating from his sapphire eyes. Tired smiles spread across their faces as the weight of their actions fell silently upon them, then instinctively brought their lips together in a long and nurturing kiss. When he kissed her, Pyrrha didn't seem like the friend he'd met on accident in the Emerald Forest anymore. Because of what they'd just done together, she was now something much more than just that. Because of what they'd both just done, they both were now something far more than just friends.

Especially since…

Pyrrha gave a slight gasp. She felt Jaune's hand snake itself between them, pressing his palm softly against her abdomen. His fingers splayed themselves just above her full womb, and the natural love radiating from his gesture made her glow with affection. It was such a simple action, but the way he caressed the skin of her flat tummy made Pyrrha think that was the only thing he should have been doing at the time.

"I could have gotten you pregnant, you know…" muttered Jaune. From his tone, he was either in awe of that simple truth or had reached a mildly fearful realization of it.

"Mmhm…" purred Pyrrha. Her lovely emerald eyes rolled open as she pressed her hand affectionately atop his. Her gaze flitted up to meet his, flashing mischievously when she grinned. "Are you scared that you might've?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

Pyrrha straightened herself against him, pressing her breasts against his chest while she lifted a speculative eyebrow in his face. "Buuuuut… what?"

Jaune seemed at a loss for words. Mostly because he actually _was_ at a loss for words, but also because it seemed now more than ever Pyrrha had meant what she said about the risk before they began. Knowing this gave him strength, and he wrapped an arm around her back, pulling her close to him. "I'd only be scared… if you were scared."

Pyrrha's eyes pulsed wide with surprise.

Jaune saw this, and simply chuckled. "Pyrrha, are _you_ scared?"

Pyrrha dipped her gaze down and away from Jaune, lost in thought for a few moments before calming herself.

"I told you, Jaune. I'm never scared…"

Pyrrha lifted her face so Jaune could see her smile, the tears flowing from her beautiful eyes so clearly joyous Jaune didn't think he could ever bear to see her weep again so long as he lived.

"I'm never scared when I'm with you…"

Jaune didn't know who instigated the kiss, but he didn't care. As soon as her bubblegum tongue pressed itself affectionately against his own and he drank in her moans and gasps like vintage wines, Jaune couldn't think of anything else but her. She was his world, his universe, his entire reality, his entire reason for being.

And now she was his as much as he was hers.

After so much time wasted, their love was now beginning to bloom so beautifully and neither one could wait to see what would happen next.

xXx

On the shower floor they stayed for an indeterminable amount of time, sharing several slow, languid kisses before Jaune confessed with a soft chuckle he was starting to lose feeling in his legs the longer she sat on him. Pyrrha of course apologized, which drove Jaune to kiss her for an eighth time. It was such a Pyrrha thing to do, and her blush drove him wild. He couldn't help himself.

The two finished bathing one another properly, each still glowing in their post-coitus reverie. Pyrrha shone like the Sun when Jaune was finished rinsing the soap clinging to her nubile and womanly curves. Jaune stood tall and proud as a king while Pyrrha wiped the last clouds of bubbles from his chiseled physique. Jaune was the first one out of the shower and he offered a hand to Pyrrha when she stepped out, which she took with a blush and a modest thanks. When both were finished drying one another, they seemed like different people in the same bodies. Whatever they were before the shower, it had swirled down the drain never to return again. A new world was now open to the two of them, and they both grinned brightly when they realized they wanted nothing more than to continue exploring the untamed frontier they'd both set foot into.

"First things first, though," said Pyrrha with a huff as she threw her toweled hair back over her head, "I want my hair to dry before we do anything else, and I need to check my pills just to make sure I'm safe."

Jaune's eyes wandered briefly when she mentioned her birth control. He followed her to the sink cupboard. "How long will it take for your hair to dry?"

"Hmm, 'bout twenty, twenty-five odd minutes," said Pyrrha with a chipper huff. She checked the time on her scroll with a tap of her finger and laughed to herself. "Wow, we still have about two hours before the next match."

"Really?" asked Jaune, peering over her shoulder to see the time on the screen and chuckling slightly when he confirmed her insight. "That seemed a lot longer…"

"Well," purred Pyrrha as she glanced fetchingly over her shoulder at Jaune, "I guess that means we have a lot of time to waste with just the two of us, don't we?"

Jaune snapped from his thoughts when he felt her eyes on him, and he smiled, planted a kiss on her shoulder. "O-Oh, yeah! Yeah, we do."

Pyrrha placed her concern of his answer in the back of her mind for the moment, then opened a drawer to pull out a small, green, circular container. She placed it on the sink top with a clack louder than she'd expected, took a breath, then put her hand on the green container's clasp-

"Pyrrha."

Jaune's hand fell atop hers. He was right beside her, his presence pressed against hers. Turning her head to face him, Pyrrha could see the concern corroding him as he lowered his eyes from the little container on the sink. Without warning, Pyrrha felt his other arm slide itself around her hip to press his hand atop her lower abdomen. Even now, she could still feel his cooling semen glowing a dimming heat deep inside herself, and she rocked back against him, his fingers splayed across her taut belly.

"What is it, Jaune…?" whispered Pyrrha, as though in a trance.

"If you're, you know… not safe…" Jaune paused to press his lips long and loving against her lower clavicle to part with a gentle, affectionate pop of his lips. Had Pyrrha not been trying to listen to Jaune's concerns, she was fairly certain his touch would have made her sing. "Will you be mad at me?"

Pyrrha's heart fluttered beneath her breast. She pressed one hand atop his and slid her other through his hair, kissing him just as lovingly as he had kissed her. Pyrrha's lips clung weakly to Jaune's skin while she parted and she hummed a low, gentle chuckle. "Jaune… I couldn't be mad at you even if I tried. I was the one who asked you to… you know…" Her hand clasped his atop her belly as he flinched in response. "It's fixable. Don't worry about it, Jaune. Everything'll be fine, I promise."

Jaune nuzzled her, and Pyrrha nuzzled back. His presence left hers, though not completely. Both were silent with anticipation as Pyrrha undid the clasp and took a quick glance at the remaining pills in the container.

"I'm safe," chuckled Pyrrha. She lifted it and pointed at the empty pill slot for Jaune to see, then shut it and put it away. An odd silence fell between the two. Not uncomfortable, but… odd.

Jaune was the first to react to Pyrrha when she didn't seem nearly as relieved as he'd expected her to be. "You alright?"

"Y-Yeah, I just… I dunno," chuckled Pyrrha, glancing over at Jaune as she shrugged. "I expected the pill to be there. No, I… almost… _wanted_ the pill to still be there... Not really sure why."

A wave of relief washed through Jaune, instantly thankful he hadn't been the only one who'd thought of such a dangerous possibility with curiosity instead of fear. He held her stomach to bring her close against him again and pressed an earnest kiss against her lower cheek. "Another time, then…"

Pyrrha's eyes went wide with shock. A question entered her mind that she thought might be important to ask him. But as she felt his hand rubbing her abdomen so deliciously full with his seed with such affection she imagined he _had_ just impregnated her, she could do little else except lean herself into his kiss. Pyrrha rolled her eyes shut again and basked in Jaune's affection. "Hmm… Another time…"

Without warning, Jaune swept Pyrrha off her feet and held her securely in his arms. Pyrrha cried out in surprise, then giggled as she had to wrap her arms around his neck to keep from rolling out. Her towel unwrapped itself from her hair, releasing her untamed crimson tresses as they glimmered damp in the light. As Jaune saw her then, her face alight with joy and her hair catching the light like a falling flame down behind her, it took all his willpower to keep himself from bursting into tears right then and there. How he was the first one to ever truly love this incredible, beautiful woman as a both romantic and sexual being, he could hardly understand. Jaune wanted to give her all of his love for the rest of his natural life without once stopping for breath. And when her eyes met his and he saw her smile glow like a spring morning after rain, he knew she would do the same for him without a second thought.

They laughed all the way to the bedroom where Jaune laid Pyrrha down gently on the sheets like a glass statue he had no intention of ruining. He tore his eyes away from her for only a moment as he glanced out the window to see the afternoon still descending into evening.

"Jaune…"

He turned back to Pyrrha. Her glistening hair fell over her shoulder in a blood-red waterfall, some stray strands caressing the curving swell of her hip. She leaned on her side like a pin-up model and was glancing at him with nymph-like excitement in her bright green eyes. Immediately, Jaune could feel life returning to his flaccid manhood as he drank in the sight.

He climbed onto the bed above Pyrrha and she laid herself down onto the soft sheets beneath him. Her vermillion hair splayed out in all directions from her head like a wildfire. Her skin glowed like the sun, her breasts heaving like two full moons in anticipation for their impending act, the lips of her womanhood already beginning to swell and glisten with arousal as she watched Jaune's organ engorge itself to its full, turgid erection between her legs.

He smiled down at her, and she smiled up at him.

Jaune kissed Pyrrha on the lips, long and lazy and languid, then kissed a trail down her neck up the smooth hill of her right breast where he rolled her erect nipple on his tongue and began to lathe upon her bosom like a babe yearning to nurse. Even as he heard her gasps and mewls of pleasure, Jaune took his time to allow himself to enjoy her taste. He had all the time in the world right now.

There was no reason for him to rush at all.

xXx

Jaune knew he was about to climax for the sixth time that evening, and he also knew this was going to be the last for the both of them.

The sound of their frantic copulation filled the air, which was heavy with the scent of nearly an hour and a half of their non-stop and restless mating. Jaune had counted five previous times when he had unleashed himself inside of her, whether that be in her mouth or in her womb, though he couldn't remember any specific time the two of them had rested for very long before going back at it again like two animals in the heat of season. Either he would cum or she would cum, bringing the other to orgasm in a breathless, sweaty spasm before collapsing in each other's arms to cradle one another. Their kisses and cuddles brought their libido back to full fruition and the whole cycle would simply start itself over again, rinse and repeat.

Currently, Pyrrha was writhing beneath him, throwing her head back and forth on the pillow and breathing throaty, panting gasps. Her hair was a chaotic hurricane of crimson beneath her from all her squirming and jerking during their frantic couplings, some of the lattice threads even falling into her mouth as she worked helplessly to keep herself breathing.

He could see her lips moving beneath her wild hair, and her heavy green eyes opened half-lidded to glance at him with a wordless plea. Jaune knew instantly what she was trying to emote and wrapped his arms around her back to pull her up against him. Too much force was applied, and her body draped limply against his for a brief moment before her arms made an exhausted effort to wrap themselves around Jaune's back. Jaune laughed breathlessly and ran a hand through her bangs to see her flash a tired smile at him.

Without warning, she embraced him tight and buried her face into his neck with a strangled cry as Jaune pumped himself into her with renewed vigor. Their genitals slapped wet and loud against one another as their accumulated fluids made their hips slick and sticky, filling their immediate area with the aroma of their non-stop rutting.

Jaune drank in the scent, Pyrrha's throaty sounds, and the image of her insides being filled over and over again with his hot, white seed, and growled as he held Pyrrha down to release another load into her. His strength left him with each steady stream of cum that slipped into her sullied depths, and he gently lowered himself and Pyrrha down onto the bed as she rode out her orgasm in fluttering, breathless spasms. His hand caressed her smooth cheek as he lathered her jaw with a series of lazy, loving kisses to better ease her through her own climax. There the two of them laid, panting, exhausted, breathless, and glowing through their aftermath.

"I think… I'm done…" breathed Jaune with a chuckle. As he swept Pyrrha's errant bangs from her face, he could see she was still lost in the blissful afterglow of her climax. He smiled warmly, his heart feeling as though it was going to burst, then laid himself beside her, moving her hips with his to keep himself inside her. As he laid there, he found himself again at a loss for words at Pyrrha's sheer beauty, and hesitated for a moment before kissing her cheek to try and bring her back to consciousness. "Hey. Pyrrha."

Pyrrha's eyes fluttered open. She smiled warmly as the first thing she saw was Jaune in bed beside her, the fury of his manhood slowly falling calm inside her overfilled canal. "Hey, Jaune…"

Jaune kissed her on the lips again. He could never grow tired of her soft lips clasping against his, could never grow tired of the life it seemed to spur back into the both of them even after being so exhausted. It was like a drug, and he couldn't get enough of it. He pulled away with a gentle pop, their tongues the last to part from contact as he caressed the fair skin of her cheek softly, lovingly. "You alright?"

She hummed a gentle chuckle and pressed her hand atop his, curling her elegant fingers around it as though she never wanted it to move again. "I've never felt better."

"Well good, because I think that was my last shot," mumbled Jaune.

Pyrrha laughed with a small and beautiful series of giggles like wind chimes caught in a stray autumn breeze. She wiggled herself against him, curling herself against his chest while Jaune instinctively wrapped his arms to keep her close. Her mate keeping her safe in the sanctuary of his embrace while his seed settled deep inside of her full womb. She was the center of the universe in that single, wonderful moment, and she sighed, content. "I think I'm done, too."

Nothing more was to be said. The only movement after was of Jaune pulling the covers over them both before returning his arm around Pyrrha with a chuckle and a kiss on her cheek. Both settled with small, contented huffs of air, and laid completely still in the glow of their silent affections. When they laid in each other's arms, the outside world crumbled away. Jaune listened to Pyrrha's steady breathing and settled against her, relieved that she was here, alive, in his arms, and happy to be like this with him. Pyrrha pressed her ear to Jaune's chest, listening to the healthy metronome of his heart as she felt her worries and fears fall silent beside the rhythmic beat. Their universe couldn't have been more perfect, their love no more complete than it was right now.

Then Pyrrha's scroll vibrated from the bathroom, and that peace shattered.

Jaune heard the rhythm of Pyrrha's breath break as she inhaled sharply through her nostrils. Pyrrha flinched from the sound of her phone as it overshadowed Jaune's heartbeat with its shrill, incessant humming. She shifted against him with the tiniest of grunts, and Jaune kissed her on the cheek. "An alarm?"

"No," mumbled Pyrrha, burying her face against his chest as reality flooded back with black, polluted waters, "It's the tournament alert."

Jaune froze. His vision had stayed politely in the back of his mind while he'd shared the past hour and a half with Pyrrha, but at the mention of the tournament it all came rushing back to him in full, terrible, vivid detail. The tournament match. Pyrrha ripping Penny to pieces. The ensuing invasion brought about by Emerald, Mercury, and-

"Cinder."

Pyrrha felt a shiver scrape down her spine. She felt his growl against her ear, and was about to ask him what was the matter when she felt him remove his flaccid manhood from her and sat upright in his bed. Pyrrha lifted herself to sit beside him, but he wasn't even looking at her. His eyes flickered back and forth at nothing, his face wearing a scowl she'd never seen on him before today. He ran his fingers through his shock of golden hair and Pyrrha decided to break her silence and confront him once and for all. "Jaune, what's wrong?"

"You can't go to the tournament," whispered Jaune.

Pyrrha furrowed her brow. His voice was empty when he said it, and she felt a growing fear churning in her heart. She ran her hand up and down his arm to try and soothe him. "Jaune, what do you mean I can't go to the tournament? I'm in the top bracket, I _have_ to go to represent Beacon-"

Jaune whipped around to Pyrrha in a flash, his sapphire eyes burrowing into her with deathly seriousness. "Why were you upset today? Pyrrha, why were you sitting alone when I came across you?"

Pyrrha opened her mouth to answer, but hesitated when she felt the truth about to escape her lips.

"You asked me if I believed in destiny," continued Jaune, "isn't that right? Why did you ask me that?"

Her eyes flickered down and around her legs, ashamed. "Jaune, I'm sorry, I… I can't tell you why…"

"It's the Fall Maiden, isn't it?" said Jaune, his excitement and fear swirling together in a storm as he further grasped what was happening to him. Why he remembered what he did without it ever happening.

Pyrrha's blood ran cold. What she'd just heard Jaune say was impossible and her eyes grew wide with shock, settling on him with overwhelming fear. "Jaune, how do you know about that…?"

"Penny Polendina."

Pyrrha flinched in surprise and confusion. "What?"

"Penny Polendina is your opponent for the tournament," said Jaune, looking Pyrrha dead in the eyes. "Go look on your scroll. It's gonna say Penny Polendina is your opponent for your one-on-one match today, I promise you."

Pyrrha squeezed Jaune's forearm with a trembling grip, her heart quickening beneath her breast as the fear began to travel through her bloodstream. "Jaune, you're scaring me. Can you please just tell me what's going on?"

Jaune blinked as the fear in Pyrrha's voice brought him back from being lost in his thoughts. He gripped her hand in his and brought it up to his lips with a chaste peck, rubbing her fingers affectionately with his thumb. "Pyrrha… I'll explain everything in a bit, but please just go and check to see who you're going up against. Please, Pyrrha..."

Her eyes flickered in fearful thought for a few seconds, then she slumped her shoulders with a tired sigh. "Alright, Jaune. Just remember, you promised to explain yourself after we did what I wanted to do, remember?"

Jaune kissed her knuckle again, his warm chuckle humming along the skin of her hand as he offered it back to her. "I haven't forgotten, Pyrrha. I promise I'll explain."

He could see her uneasy smile as she slipped herself off his bed and walked to the bathroom. It was strange to see her naked like that. On the one hand, he was aroused to watch her shapely legs and pert bottom ease and tense while she walked, but on the other hand, he could see the fear in her gait and reminded himself of how scared she must be right now.

Jaune clenched his jaw, his hands curling into fists against his bed comforter. If he was right about this…

A shocked gasp sliced through the silence right before he heard the clatter of someone dropping their scroll onto a ceramic surface. Jaune was off the bed and opening the door to Pyrrha's bathroom in seconds. She stood there, her eyes wide with fear like a doe caught in the headlights, her hands pressed tight against her mouth in terror.

When Jaune stepped beside her, he saw she was staring at her scroll screen as it displayed a picture of her facing off against a girl with auburn-cinnamon curls with the name "Penny Polendina" scrawled above her.

Jaune's breath left him. He was right. It was his Semblance, it _must_ have been.

A Semblance of Visions.

"Jaune…"

He turned to see Pyrrha staring at him, her emerald green irises began to shimmer with the precursor of tears. He stepped forward towards her.

But she stepped back, her hands pressed against her chest as she shook her head. "No, Jaune…"

"Pyrrha-"

"Jaune Arc, you tell me right now what's going on, or so help me, I'll..." said Pyrrha, her voice quaking as the first of her tears began to trail down her fair cheeks, "... I'll leave you…"

Jaune stepped forwards again regardless of her threat. She stepped back again, realizing her bluff had been played, and weakly continued to try and resist his advance. "I swear, Jaune Arc, I'll leave you…"

"Are you afraid of me?" asked Jaune, a goofy smile curving his lips just like Pyrrha remembered them.

"I-I'm not… I'm not-"

Her heel caught on the shower incline. She was about to fall backwards when Jaune strode forward and caught her with an arm around her waist. Pyrrha felt small as he pulled her against his chest, smaller than she'd ever felt before in her entire life. But it wasn't a sense of inferiority. Rather, she felt for the very first time that she was not the invincible girl she'd been raised to believe she was. For the very first time Pyrrha felt herself as the one being protected by Jaune, and the reason her tears were cascading down her cheeks was because she knew something horribly, terribly wrong must have happened to change him so. A wound only he'd known about that he bore the moment he started crying hours earlier, just before he kissed her.

Pyrrha should have known. She should have known there was something terribly wrong with Jaune, and she wept against his chest in her shower because she hadn't saved him from it. Because she knew, somehow, in some way, she had been the source of his agony, and the thought tore her up from the inside out. "I'm… I'm so sorry, Jaune…!"

Jaune purred softly for her to shush, reaching to his side as he turned on the warm water to cascade down their bodies caked in each other's fluids. He cradled her so gently, so lovingly under the shower head as Pyrrha felt her sorrows wash away for the second time that day. When he felt her trembling sobs fall silent against him, Jaune craned his neck to plant a kiss in the middle of her flowing crimson tresses.

"There's gonna be an invasion," whispered Jaune into her hair. Pyrrha snapped up to look at him in disbelief, to which Jaune only gave a sad, acknowledging nod of his head. "Mercury's team, the one from Mistral is sabotaging the tournament with someone with an Illusion Semblance. They used it to make it look like Yang attacked him. They were gonna use it on you to make you kill Penny."

"But how?" whispered Pyrrha. "Penny has Aura, doesn't she? How could I kill her without everyone knowing?"

"She's an android built in Atlas. You're Semblance damages her systems and deactivates her ability to create an Aura long enough for your attack to be fatal." Jaune grimaced, turning his gaze away from Pyrrha as his jaw clenched in rage. "You tear her to pieces, and the fear from the crowd draws the Grimm deeper into Vale than ever before."

Pyrrha shook her head in disbelief. "The Invasion…"

Jaune nodded weakly. "The Invasion."

Pyrrha shot up suddenly. "But the Fall Maiden! Beneath the school, what happens…?"

Jaune's face contorted at the mention of Amber. He kept his gaze away from Pyrrha.

"Does she not…?" Pyrrha began, but stopped speaking when Jaune shook his head in answer and lifted her hands to her mouth in horror. "Oh my God…"

"We need to tell Professor Ozpin about Cinder and Mercury, Pyrrha. We need him to-"

"And what… about me…?" Pyrrha's eyes rolled up to his tentatively. She saw Jaune go rigid from the question, and her heart dropped like lead as he averted his eyes from her face. "Jaune…" Pyrrha pressed herself against Jaune, holding his cheeks to face her with tears beginning to form in his beautiful eyes. "... What happened to me…?"

His lips quivered, and Jaune burst into tears as pulled her tight against his chest, as though letting go of her now was to let her go for all of eternity. His arms curled around behind her, his hand snaking around to hold her head as he kissed her as though she were the last woman alive on Remnant. The sound of his weeping so close to her ear broke her heart, and she wrapped her arms around his broad back, caressing him in slow, soothing circles as she planted tearful kisses wherever she could offer them. On his cheek. On his chest. On his heart. Anywhere she could offer them. "I'm so sorry, Jaune… I shouldn't have asked… I'm here now, okay? I'm… I'm here, now..."

"I know," mumbled Jaune, parting from her as he laughed pathetically and wiped away the tears from his eyes. "I can change it, now. Pyrrha, I can save you. I can save everyone." And it was true. Jaune knew he could change things. He would make his own future. One with her in it, and anyone else he could save with his newfound powers.

"But… how, Jaune?" asked Pyrrha.

Jaune pulled her into a long, affectionate, and passionate kiss. When he parted, he felt hope surge through his chest as he saw her here, standing in his arms, alive.

With all of the future available to him as a possibility.

He pressed his forehead against hers, and both allowed their eyes to roll shut as they basked in the contained universe they'd just made.

"Pyrrha," whispered Jaune, "do you believe in second chances?"

xXx

 **A/N: This was so much fun to write.**

 **Almost as much fun to write as the epilogue chapter was. ;)**

 **Keep an eye out for it in the coming weeks, and if you can't wait, check in on my Tumblr as I requested at the beginning of this story to check on any updates on the production I post.**

 **In the meantime, be sure to read "Black Sun Kittens," as the epilogue will involve elements and characters discussed in the first two chapters of that story. While on the subject of B.S.K., the first draft of chapter 4 is completed and will be uploaded on its one year anniversary (yay!).**

 ***(Chapter Soundtrack)***

" _ **ThIs Is Not the End"**_ **– Fieldwork,** _ **"ThIs Is Not the End"**_

" _ **L'origine Nascota"**_ **– Ludivico Enaudi,** _ **"Divenire"**_

" _ **Death Is Only A Door"**_ **– Tom Tykwer,** _ **"Cloud Atlas: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"**_

 **Thanks again for reading, and until next time,**

 **-M.E. Grimm**


	2. Epilogue: A Half-Remembered Dream

**Author's Greetings: Okay, you guys. I am for real completely floored by the sheer number of people who caught on to this story and enjoyed it. I shit you not, within the first four hours of uploading, it had over a thousand views, three reviews, and well over thirty story followers and favorites. Where the story stands right now with all its reviews, faves, and follows… I…**

 **Gals and guys, seriously, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all. You don't know how difficult the past three months have been for me in terms of sheer stress and dealing with this fucking ear infection of mine. All the positive reviews, all your kind words, all of it helped me get through to where I am now, typing these words with a big, dumb smile on my face. I am humbled to have made something that made your day a bit more interesting, and I am blessed to have gained you all as my readership.**

 **That being said, I should probably make something clear with so many people raving that I apparently write me a mean Arkos: I'm not a frequenter of Arkos writing. From the first word written to the last, this fanfiction was and always has been my own way of bidding farewell to the ship. I pride myself as someone who skirts canon as often as I can because it's fun to try and put as much of the original vision into my own spin as I possibly can. I am a BlackSun writer primarily, focusing my attention on "Black Sun Kittens" and "Eternal Autumn," and trying to get them exposure because those are stories that have good chances of lasting well throughout the show's and the fandom's duration.**

 **And before you think that DYBISC is in the same headcanon as Black Sun Kittens, I am officially saying here and now that it is NOT part of my Black Sun Kittens AU for reasons I address in-story.**

 **(Also, real quick in-story references in case some of you don't know or haven't read Black Sun Kittens:**

" **The Cataclysm" = Whatever final conflict the canon show seems to be leading up to that we don't currently know the details of.**

 **Dusk's Semblance = Think Danny from Stephen King's "The Shining." I won't say anything further on this subject because potential spoilers.)**

 **This is the last chapter in DYBISC, and the last Arkos I will ever write.**

 **With that in mind, though, I hope my writing has drawn at least a good number of you in to whatever else I've written already and hopefully to whatever I write in the years to come. And if that isn't enough for you purely Arkos shippers, I direct you to read "TheJenkinsCurse"'s ongoing series of Arkos one-shots called "Goodbye, Jaune." The adorable little shorts are fantastic reads and worthy of your attention if you're a heavy Arkos fanfiction lover. Please give it a look-see if you're still thirsty for more Arkos by the end of this chapter.**

 **Because make no mistake, this is the end.** _ **My**_ **end.**

 **For the characters Monty inspired me with, and for all of you.**

 **Enjoy.**

 **xXx**

 **Do You Believe In [(Second) Chances]?**

 _Written by M.E. Grimm_

 _ **(Epilogue: "A Half-Remembered Dream")**_

xXx

" _Nothing is written in stone, child. Even if it was, stone can be broken."_

 _-_ Melanie Rawn, _"Dragon Prince"_

" _The future disappears into memory_

 _With only a moment between._

 _Forever dwells in that moment,_

 _Hope is what remains to be seen..."_

\- Rush, _"The Garden"_

xXx

(Thirteen Years Later…)

xXx

In the cottage by the split in the river, Jaune woke to the sound of an infant's cooing.

"Shhh, I know sweetie, not so loud! You don't want to wake up papa, do you?"

A smile bloomed on his lips, and Jaune willed his eyes to open just a crack.

There, he saw Pyrrha on the bed, the pre-dawn sky outside the same glowing ember-red as her flowing crimson tresses. Cradled in her arms was the newest addition to their family, Eponine, as she squeaked and cooed excitedly up at her beautiful mother. The babe's thatch of strawberry-blonde hair compelled Jaune to caress his six-month-old daughter's head, but he refrained. This moment was for Pyrrha and her daughter, for mother and child to speak to one another in their own special language, and he dared not disturb it. He could only stay there, watching in contented silence and pretending to sleep so as to not shatter the moment's beauty.

Pyrrha dipped a quick kiss on Eponine's head, then another and another and another, until her child was positively thrilled from all the attention she was getting. As the infant's arms flailed about, one clasped itself on Pyrrha's left breast and stayed there. Both Jaune and Pyrrha could hear Eponine's amusement deteriorate into a low moan, a plea for her first meal of the day.

"Alright, alright, no need to be fussy…" said Pyrrha.

Chuckling softly, she fished her arm from her nightgown to free her breast and held Eponine's head close so her little lips could latch onto the gentle pink nub. The child nursed eagerly, and Jaune listened to the innocent sound of his daughter drinking her mother's milk, enjoying it like the soft trickle of a mountain spring.

Pyrrha sighed, easing herself back against the headboard, bobbing Eponine gently in her arms while she nursed her offspring with practiced grace. "There you go. That'll calm you down… There you go…"

Sitting there basking in the crimson light of the sunless sky, it was obvious to Jaune time and parenthood had changed the both of them. After bearing three children, her curves became wider and softer (and to Jaune's unabashed pleasure, her breasts more full with milk), though her body remained fit and healthy in spite of this.

But to Jaune, her most obvious change was her glow. That glow, that strange, lightless shimmer that added so much to her smile, to her every action, to the happiness Jaune shared with her ever since she first learned she was going to be with child so many years ago. He supposed such an effect was natural for a woman who'd both lived and nurtured life in equal measure, because that glow only managed to shimmer more brilliantly as the years went by and their children flourished under their loving care. Pyrrha was the life-giving sun around which Jaune's entire world revolved. He couldn't imagine a life any different from this one. This wonderful life with the family Pyrrha and he had raised together.

This future he had forged of his own volition.

"It's impolite to stare, you know," murmured Pyrrha, chuckling as she caught Jaune watching Eponine sucking softly against her exposed breast.

Jaune hummed a deep, low chuckle, and chose this moment to stroke the tuft of strawberry-blonde hair atop his daughter's head. "She's just so beautiful…"

Pyrrha hummed a gentle sigh, smiling as she bobbed her infant daughter in her arms with small, light bounces. "Goodness, she's got an appetite."

Jaune lifted himself to sit beside Pyrrha with a dusty groan and a huff. Time hadn't been altogether kind to Jaune, not after the scars from fighting against Salem during The Cataclysm. He'd kept his body fit the best he could with Pyrrha's help, but it seemed a simple truth that some wounds were just too deep to be healed with time. He rested some of his weight against the headboard and some against Pyrrha, leaning in and occupying his lips on the elegant curve of her neck.

"Well, anyone would be if their mother's breasts were so bountiful…" purred Jaune, licking up to nibble her ear.

"Ugh, you pig," said Pyrrha with a groan, snapping her ear from his teeth. She tried to turn away in playful spite, but Jaune was already on her and had his arms wrapped around her torso. He settled himself against the curve of her back and watched his newborn nurse serenely in her mother's arms. The sight was so natural in its beauty, Jaune could only emote his appreciation by tightening his arms around Pyrrha and burying his lips in the curve of her neck.

"She's beautiful… just like her mother…" whispered Jaune, kissing Pyrrha earnestly on her cheek even as she pretended to ignore it out of faux-spite.

Pyrrha faced Jaune with a speculative brow raised. "You totally didn't apologize for being a perv."

Jaune smiled. "I'm sorry for being a perv."

Pyrrha grinned immediately and planted a chaste kiss on his lips. "There you go."

The kiss shared after that one was relaxed and unhurried. It mattered little to them how long it lingered, only that they parted because they no longer could spend entire days alone together now with three children living in their home. Or at least, they couldn't spend it the way they _used_ to when they first came to live here.

And not to mention… "When are Blake and Sun supposed to come to pick up Dawn and Dusk?"

Pyrrha turned her chin up thoughtfully, still bouncing Eponine slightly in her arm as she did so. "Around… nine or so."

Jaune glanced at the bedside clock and read the time. It was early. Good. "Did you get Dawn and Marius up to start warming up?"

"Mmhm," hummed Pyrrha, her hand caressing Eponine's soft head as though it were fine glass. "Woke them up then came in to feed Eponine."

Jaune chuckled to himself, shook his head. A ruthless trainer even in motherhood, he thought with a smirk. "Thanks, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha glanced at Jaune from the corner of her eye and gave a smirk of her own. "I think they like each other, Jaune."

"Who, Marius and Dawn?" mumbled Jaune as he stood from the bed and lifted his shirt over his head. Crisscrossing scars scattered in dark scratches across his lean and muscular back. Pyrrha noticed and felt her heart ache quietly, reflexively. It'd been years, but she still hadn't grown accustomed to the sight. It still surprised her, reminding her how much he'd sacrificed to save so many. How much he'd sacrificed to save her…

"Don't you see it in how they look at one another? The way they compete, it's like they're trying to impress one another. Children vying for the other's attention," said Pyrrha, mentioning the children to keep her mind off her husband's scars.

"Yeah," said Jaune. He stretched an old white shirt over himself and turned back to Pyrrha with a huff and a smile. "I know, I can see it. They're good for one another. But we'll see where time takes them. No, training them to fight is your forte. What about Dusk and Helena? Are they up?"

Pyrrha was silent for a second or two. Her eyes faltered down and away with pursed lips. "That was the other thing, actually…"

"What happened? Something bad?" asked Jaune. He already had an odd feeling about what was about to be said. A memory from a half-remembered dream floating to the surface, a shard of prescience glinting crimson in the morning's rising light.

"He said he wanted to talk to you about it specifically, but…" Pyrrha flicked her bright green eyes back to Jaune, releasing her lower lip from her teeth with a sweet, subdued pop. "I think... he had a vision last night."

Jaune went rigid with Pyrrha's news. Not in a threatened or frightened way, but in the way he felt when memories from the River gave him an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. "What… What makes you think that, babe?"

With a huff, Pyrrha stood herself from the bed and walked to the window, bobbing Eponine gently in her arms. She glanced out to the two tents set up at the edge of the cottage grounds, then sighed. "I could see it in his eyes when I came in to wake them up. Dawn was asleep, but I could tell by how fast he reacted Dusk had been awake for a little while. I asked him what was wrong, but he just shook his head and told me he was alright. I could see it in his eyes, Jaune. A wisdom a boy like him, even with his powers, shouldn't have in his eyes." Pyrrha glanced at Jaune from the corner of her sight, her expression grim. "Whatever he saw… it shook him."

Jaune walked beside Pyrrha at the window, looked out at the waking world beneath a vermillion sky. "What'd you do then?"

"I just asked him if he wanted to talk to you and he said that he did," answered Pyrrha. Jaune felt her hip bump against his and he turned to see her flashing a lovely smile at him. "Training them to fight is my shtick. Visions is _your_ ballpark, buddy."

Jaune hummed a rumble of a chuckle as he returned her smile with his own. "I'll go talk to him."

As Pyrrha beamed up at him, Jaune couldn't help but snake his arms around her to crush their infant daughter snugly between them. Eponine noticed the sudden snugness of another adult warming her besides her mother and was delighted to see the kind face of her father when she turned her head away from Pyrrha's breast. A joyous coo babbled from the babe's mouth, and Jaune felt his heart soar when Pyrrha wiped a finger Eponine's lips where some of her milk still remained.

He then turned his eyes up to meet Pyrrha's as a force more powerful than gravity drew their lips together. The combined warmth of his wife and his child coursed through Jaune, basking him in their vibrant glow. For the second time that morning, Jaune couldn't put into words how blessed he knew he was that this future had come to pass. Heaven paled in comparison to a life spent with this incredible woman, and he never wanted this kiss to end.

Eponine's squirms rose to object, though, and Pyrrha parted from the kiss chuckling helplessly. "Okay, okay! I know you're there! I know my precious little rose is there!"

Jaune couldn't resist any longer and offered his hands to Pyrrha. Of course, she obliged, and Eponine was transferred to Jaune as he rubbed his nose against hers, something that always put a smile on his daughter's face. He tossed her gently in the air much to her very vocal amusement, then did it again to even greater effect. By the time he was done, Eponine's emerald green eyes were positively alight with happiness. He pressed a big, wet kiss on her little cheek. "Why can't I spend the rest of the day with you, huh? Why can't I make you laugh some more instead of dealing with real life?"

"Because real life entails you making breakfast while I get ready to train Marius and Dawn, and you need to talk to Dusk before all that, so," Pyrrha stepped forward to reclaim Eponine from her father, "I'll take her, and you," she said, kissing Jaune quickly on the lips and giving him a pat on his cheek, "go talk to Dusk like I told you to."

Jaune held her hand, kissed her knuckle, and beamed as he watched Pyrrha exit their bedroom, still humming soft lullabies to Eponine. The melody drifted off, filtered by the halls of his home.

Outside, the flame of morning was growing from deep red to an infectious golden ember. Jaune decided to forego the shoes for now. Nothing out there was worthy of such a precaution.

The scent of freshwater never failed to send his mind reeling every time he opened the backdoor of his home. As the wind it carried from the distant twin rivers of the forest, it also brought to Jaune's ears the sounds of clacking sticks and of frustrated battle cries. He moved through the trees and saw them sparring in a clearing. His firstborn son, Marius, was using the leather-padded shield and wooden sword taught to him by his mother. Dawn, meanwhile, took Sun's affinity for a bo staff while she skirted and danced around Marius with all the acrobatic grace of her father.

"Goodness, Marius, you're such a wimp. Why don't you actually try and hit me for once?" pouted Dawn, planting her staff in the ground as she threw her hip-length ponytail over her shoulder.

Across from her, Marius wiped away the golden bangs clinging soddenly to his forehead. The way his emerald green eyes fixed on Dawn was a mixture of anger and attention that sent a surge of pride through Jaune's chest. _Keeping his head in the game_ , thought Jaune with a subconscious nod of approval. _Just like his mother taught him._

Then, to Jaune's confusion, Marius planted his feet in place and flipped his sword into a reverse grip. He recognized the stance to be Pyrrha's immediately. Marius's emerald eyes flared with a cocky determination that told Jaune all he needed to know about how this was going to end for his son.

"Why don't you go somewhere else for dancing lessons? I hear ballerina classes are good for little girls, they'd really like you there," said Marius with a crooked grin.

Dawn threw her head back in soundless laughter then ejected from where she stood, leapt, and swung her staff to strike the side of Marius's head. In a flash, Marius's shield caught the blow. Swinging his blade to cut Dawn's stomach in mid-air, it seemed for the slightest of seconds his son's blow would strike true. But as Marius lifted his shield to push her staff up and out, Dawn used the wooden rod as a lever and vaulted over to land beside him. Marius whipped around to thrust the tip of his sword back, but Dawn's tail had already caught it and her staff had already swept his legs out from under him. By the time he realized he was on the ground, both Dawn's staff and the sword she held captive with her tail pointed directly at his throat.

"I already took lessons. Why do you think I'm so good at dancing around you?" said Dawn with a sly grin. The staff removed itself from Marius's neck with a fluid flick of her wrist and she shifted her hips to yank him up with her tail. "Come on, one to one. Up and at 'em."

Marius steadied his feet and rolled his head around his shoulders. "Lucky shot."

"Doesn't really matter what that was, I still got you. Come on, best two out of three," quipped Dawn over her shoulder. Her tail swished and flicked playfully back at Marius, making Jaune swear it carried a lick of cattiness from her mother.

The two positioned themselves across from one another and slid into their appropriate stances, but Jaune noticed Marius was hopping in place way too much. Dawn seemed to notice this and a sly grin sliced across her lips. Jaune saw her stance change while Marius was still "psyching" himself for the next match and again knew exactly how the game was going to end.

"Ready?" purred Dawn.

Marius planted his feet with a loud huff. "Let's go!"

"Stop, stop, stop." Jaune couldn't play the silent arbiter any longer and he made his presence known so when he started laughing, Marius could at least see who it was.

"D-Dad! I-I mean, sir! What's the problem, sir?" Marius snapped to attention instantly, his cheeks reddening as he heard his father's laughter. Dawn flipped her staff to lean on it and also began to snicker slightly to herself from across the small clearing.

"Calm down, Marius, calm down, it's just… what was with the…" Jaune stopped and snapped his legs dramatically into stance as Marius had. "What is that, a new dance move?"

Behind him, Dawn giggled to herself, nodding in appreciation of Mr. Arc's dramatization. Marius dipped his head, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. "I-I was getting myself into the heat of the battle, like mom taught me to…"

"Marius," said Jaune with a wise, understanding hum. He walked to his son and crossed his arms behind his back as he explained. "Didn't your mother also teach you to keep a cool head? You know what I saw when you were cutting a jig?" Jaune pointed over to Dawn, who seemed confused that Mr. Arc was talking about her when she couldn't hear. "Dawn over there was crouching and getting ready for you. She saw you overheating yourself and if I hadn't stepped in, she likely would have had you within five moves of starting. At best."

Marius's shoulders sagged as he listened to his father's dissection. "Sorry, it's just…"

"You psych yourself just the right amount, Marius. Nothing more, nothing less. When you're frosty, you aren't hot. You're cool and sharp. Ready for whatever comes next." Jaune patted Marius on the shoulder, then stepped around to kneel behind him, resting his chin on his son's shoulder. "You won one already?"

Marius nodded. "Uh-huh."

"What'd you do?"

Jaune watched Marius squint in thought. By the way his son's eyes flicked and fluttered through his memories, he felt a jolt of pride swell in his chest. He and Pyrrha had taught him well. "I caught her with a strike of my shield."

"Good, good. Staff means she's long range and her acrobatics makes her flighty and swift, which means…?"

"Get in close," muttered Marius, his fingers twitching around the grips of his sword and shield, "Invade her personal space."

"No, be defensive, and be smart. You aren't your mother, don't try to be flashy. Do what works and wait for an opening, even if that means turtling up for long periods of time," whispered Jaune.

Marius glanced over his shoulder at his father. "What if she stops attacking?"

"This is a fight, isn't it? She has to attack. That or she forfeits, which you and I both know she isn't going to do. Turtle up, wait for an opening. That's the only way you can do it." Jaune stood with a paternal pat on Marius's shoulder as he nudged him forward with his knee. "Go on, son."

Marius heard his father's advice and nodded his head up and down, whispering it over and over to himself as he twirled his sword excitedly in his hand.

Across the small clearing, Dawn kicked her staff up and tapped her shoulder theatrically while she walked forward. "Oh, serious Marius. Look at him, getting his head in the game."

Jaune stepped between the two and put his hand in the air. "You done talking, Dawn?"

Dawn paused, glanced up at Mr. Arc with a sly grin, and then smacked the staff into a twirl, standing herself at the ready.

Jaune's eyes rolled over to his son. "Ready, Marius?"

Marius glanced up to him and nodded wordlessly.

Jaune sliced his hand down. "Go!"

As expected, Dawn bolted into the offensive right off the bat, twirling her staff and using her acrobatic momentum to land strike after strike at Marius. Jaune backpedaled away and was pleased to see Marius turtling up and prioritizing his footwork as he skirted with Dawn's attacks, raising his shield to meet her bo staff each time it flew at him. Always there was the whistle of Dawn's rod as it flew and always there was the sharp slap of impact, but not of wood against skin, rather of wood against leather.

"Now who's the ballerina?!" cried Dawn as she whirled to keep the momentum of her assault alive. She made a sweep for Marius's legs and Marius promptly dodged with a well-timed hop. Jaune could hear the frustration in Dawn's huff as she caught her staff in both hands and threw herself into another barrage. To Dawn's credit, Jaune was duly amazed at the sheer amount of stamina the girl possessed. However, Jaune knew wind could only blow against stone for so long and Dawn's breathing became labored the longer their fight went on.

In the aftermath of another failed assault, Dawn skirted back with shaking steps. For the first time, she didn't immediately throw herself into another attack. A glaring tell of how tired she was making herself, aside from how she hadn't made any wise cracks at Marius at all recently.

Dawn wiped the sweat from her forehead, made a motion to twirl her staff back into her hands to get herself back in stance. "What's the matter-?"

Marius bolted forward. Dawn's eyes grew wide and narrowed in frustration within a split second. At the second's end, she roared in effort and thrust her staff at Marius's middle like a spear.

Jaune knew it was the wrong move to make the instant she made it, and like clockwork, Marius's shield easily batted the approaching end of the staff away. Keeping his momentum, Marius brought his wooden sword down to smash against Dawn's gripping hand. She cried out in pain and threw the weapon away by reflex. Marius pivoted on his heels the instant he saw Dawn unarmed, and used her shock as the perfect opportunity to smash his buckler against her torso. She flew back from the force, and Marius ran forward to plant his boot firmly on her weapon as she rolled to a stop a small distance away.

Dawn lifted herself weakly with her arms, saw this, and spat angrily to her side, glaring at Marius like a feral wolf on its last legs.

Jaune, in his infinite naiveté, thought this was the ideal moment to end the match and stepped forward to announce it. "Alri-"

But in that instant, Dawn sprinted from where she lay sprawled on the ground without warning and practically screamed as she dashed to a tree near Marius, vaulted off of it, and flipped to try and constrict his neck with her legs.

In two motions, Marius lifted his buckler to let her naturally slam her gut into it for a second time, then let gravity take them both down as he pinned her to the ground with the third blow. By the time Marius crawled up to place his wooden sword at her neck, Dawn was already coughing, working to regain the wind that was so cleanly struck from her lungs.

Jaune's heart warmed as he watched how quickly Marius's cool focus melted to horrified concern when he saw Dawn gripping her stomach in pain. He immediately threw his weapons aside and leapt off of her. "Dawn! Oh crap! I-I'm so sorry!"

"Fine… It's fine… You just… Hit the wind…" Dawn laid her head back on the ground as her lungs inflated themselves with a sound like a horrified gasp followed by a string of successive coughing. "Ow- *cough* You hit me- *cough* Really solid. *cough*" Weakly she lifted a thumbs up, smiling.

"I was about to call the match before you went on your feral rage," said Jaune, chuckling wisely as he fell to a knee and helped Dawn upright. "But I think getting the wind knocked out of you is a better lesson of what you did wrong than what I was about to tell you."

Dawn coughed a few more times, knocking her fist against her chest. She turned up to Mr. Arc, strenuous tears streaming from her storm-gray eyes. "Which was…?"

"You're too brash. You knew barrages weren't working, but you kept doing them anyways. All you did was wear yourself out while Marius simply bided his time. Next time you see something isn't working, don't try to hit the wall harder. Adapt and change."

Dawn shook her head, threw a hand up in frustration. "That's what I tired doing… I even tried it without my staff…"

"Yeah, and you did it with a technique you didn't fully understand-" Dawn opened her mouth to object, but Jaune cut her off, "Ah-Ah, don't try and pretend, we both know you did that because you were just angry and for no other reason whatsoever. It was the same with Marius over here pulling his reverse grip last match. Did you learn that flying leg grab from your father, Dawn?"

Dawn nodded her head.

"Did he tell you to use it while you were fatigued on an opponent that had every conceivable advantage over you?" prodded Jaune.

Dawn dipped her head, her gaze turned away. "... I had the tree as an advantage…"

"Which only served to bring your torso fully within Marius's range of attack…" explained Jaune, though he trailed off as he saw Dawn cringe from his dissection. He stopped with a sigh, then placed his hands on both the kids' shoulders. "Look, you two. You're both incredible athletes, let alone fighters. Marius, the fact you listened and applied my advice is remarkable. Not many students would be so willing to change their ways so quickly, and even fewer would be so fast to learn. And Dawn, your fighting technique is incredible! The way you maneuver yourself in the air, using the motion of your body to add force and recovery to your strikes is impeccable!"

Then, he paused and shook their shoulders to make sure they could see the warm seriousness in his face. "But what you two need to remember is that you aren't like us yet. Marius, you can't fight like your mother or I, and Dawn, you can't fight like your mother or father, either. You're both too young and too inexperienced to do anything but just the basics my wife is teaching you, nothing more, nothing less."

"But…" mumbled Marius, "... When _will_ we be able to fight like you?"

"Marius, by the time you're able to fight and hold your own, you won't _need_ to fight like us." answered Jaune, smiling as he patted his son's shoulder and rubbed it with his thumb. "You're gonna fight like _Marius_ , son. And Dawn, you'll fight in that frenzied and precise way only _Dawn_ can do," said Jaune, laughing as he rustled Dawn's wild black hair and drew forth a few giggles.

"But what's important, though," he continued, "is that what you'll have will be whatever works for you and you alone. You get better at your craft in the ways that only you can. All we adults can do is provide you with the ground-soil you guys start from and the wisdom to give you direction. But what you end up with at the finish line, well…" Jaune paused and smiled at the two kids, his heart growing as he caught the glints of determination flickering in their eyes. "... I guess only time will tell, eh?"

"I couldn't have put it better myself," said a smooth voice over Jaune's shoulder.

He stood and turned. Pyrrha walked into the clearing dressed in her armored uniform as it glistened in the growing morning light. Her outfit had changed over the years as her body did, but even in her designated Huntress's uniform Jaune still felt his breath leave him whenever he saw her armed and ready for battle. An amazonian beauty in her natural, radiant appearance; her blood-red hair pulled into a ponytail that fell behind her like a river of curling flames. An avenging angel beautiful and terrible as the sun.

He almost felt ashamed he hadn't put on his own uniform and blushed a little as she approached. "Aw, honey, I'm sure you've told them something similar to that before, right-?"

Pyrrha cut him off when she pressed her lips to his. Jaune chuckled and leaned forward to let it linger long enough to hear their students shuffling their feet, both refusing to look at one another in fear of seeing the other blush.

"You were right about them," Jaune murmured, nuzzling his nose along Pyrrha's cheek.

Pyrrha giggled softly, nudged her cheek against his nose. "Told you."

"Wh-What are you guys talking about…?" asked Marius tentatively, his eyes flitting nervously between his parents and Dawn.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," chuckled Pyrrha, "Your father and I were just talking about what we think you two need to improve on."

"Which would be…?" asked Dawn.

Pyrrha walked between Marius and Dawn and chopped them both on their heads in beat with her answer. "Don't. Show. Off!"

The kids rubbed their heads and groaned. Jaune chuckled warmly to himself, but was cut off when Pyrrha's hand descended to give his head a chop of his very own. "And you, I thought I told you to go and talk to Dusk!"

Jaune smiled meekly as he winced from his wife's strike. "I just… wanted to see how they were doing…" Then he opened his eyes, "O-Oh, yeah, and to ask Dawn-"

"Hmm?" Dawn turned up to Mr. Arc, puzzled, pointed at herself.

"Yeah, ah," Jaune kneeled down to her and asked, "Where is your little brother, anyways?"

Dawn pointed deeper into the forest in the direction of the distant river. Jaune knew where Dusk was immediately, and lifted himself to his feet with an amused huff. "Let me guess, Helena's with him?"

"Yeah," answered Marius, "she followed him when he said he wanted to practice a bit more by-"

"The split," muttered Jaune, looking off in the river's direction. What did that little boy see...?

"Alright, enough gawking around, you two," announced Pyrrha, stepping in front of the two kids with crossed arms and a stern expression on her face. "You know the drill! Warm up jog! Come on!"

Both the kids began moaning and groaning on reflex. "Aw, c'mon mom! We've already started sparring, can't we just skip it today?"

"Nuh-uh, no excuses, Marius! No matter what we do, we always start with a warm up! Come on! You guys know the route!" Pyrrha glared at them mercilessly until the two kids dropped their weapons and began jogging as she instructed. "You two are gonna earn Mr. Arc's breakfast today, don't you doubt that for a second!"

Jaune chuckled at the sight of Pyrrha asserting herself, then tapped on her shoulder to grab her attention. "Babe."

Pyrrha halted mid-holler and whipped around to meet Jaune with soft, emerald eyes. "What, Jaune?"

"Work on Marius's shieldwork and Dawn's pacing. He needs to know how to switch between defense and offense smarter and she needs to learn how to work around a shield."

"Got it." Pyrrha pecked Jaune on the cheek, then jogged off to catch up with the kids. Jaune watched his wife disappear down the jogging trail around their hundred-acre land, then turned and started jogging in the direction Dawn had pointed him in. He knew exactly where he needed to go.

The rush of the river grew the farther he went. Through the trees ahead, Jaune could see the dim light of morning grow brighter as its tangerine glow reflected off the clear surface of the running water. Eventually, the density of the forest decreased enough that Jaune could see a massive lone oak on a hill overlooking the fork in the two rivers beyond.

And there, in the tree's shade, he could make out two tiny shapes kneeling on the grass side by side in meditation. One's shortly cropped crimson locks gleamed almost ruby in the rising morning light. The other's wild curls shone like spun gold as two kitten ears stood completely still on top.

The sound of nature's motion overwhelmed Jaune as he smiled at the sight. With a hum of a chuckle, he walked forward from the forest to the two children in the distance.

One of Dusk's kitten ears twitched slightly, the perfect peace of his posture disturbed. By the time Jaune reached the two, Dusk had returned to awareness and glanced over his shoulder to his host kneeling between himself and Helena. The boy's golden eyes were slitted like a cat's one second, then became normal when he blinked. Helena's eyes flickered open as well, her sapphire irises burning with a shimmering turquoise light that also disappeared when she blinked.

Jaune smiled bright and warm. "You two are getting better."

"Papa!" squeaked Helena. Her awareness returned as she realized her father was kneeling beside her, and the crimson-haired girl was up with her arms wrapped around Jaune's neck before he could react. He only chuckled warmly, running his arms around his daughter as he held her tight in his arms. "Oh, papa, I could see so much more today! I could even see what you were gonna make for breakfast!"

Jaune lifted an amused brow as he held Helena at a small distance. She looked so much like her mother, it was uncanny. "Oh? And what was I making for breakfast?"

Helena turned her chin up in thought and began listing off with her fingers the items. "Eggs, pancakes with banana slices for Dawn, sausage biscuits and bacon for Dusk and Marius, and…" Her sentence trailed off, her finger tapping her chin as she wracked her brain for the last item. "... Oh…! It's… Ugh, it's on the tip of my tongue…!"

"Apples," said Dusk from around Jaune, the boy's voice low and soft as he leaned around Jaune to flash a demure smile at Helena. "It was apples, from the orchards. I remembered the smell."

"Yeah! Apples! It was the-!" Helena's enthusiasm shifted into displeasure as she puffed her cheeks at Dusk, stomping her small, bare foot into the grass in playful jealousy. "Dusk! I wanted to figure it out on my own!"

At this, Dusk flashed a wide and toothy smile that reminded Jaune of the ones he'd seen on the boy's father. Not one of victory, but of the same amusement a father shows towards their son or daughter when they do those childish things every parent loves to see their children do. Pyrrha had been right, Jaune thought as he watched the boy chuckle contentedly. This boy has wisdom beyond his years. _Far_ beyond his years.

"Sorry, Helena," laughed Dusk, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully. "It just came out."

"Ugh. Like butthead Dusk said, I could smell the apples while I was slipping into the River." Helena rolled her eyes, lifted her head, and took in a relaxed breath as a stray breeze glided over the running water of the river. A gentle smile stretched itself across her lips as it tousled her hair. "It was clearer than it's ever been, but I still can't really stay in there for very long. If I do, everything becomes a rush and blurs out of my grasp."

Jaune hummed in his chest. "Yeah. That was how it was for me when I first gained my Semblance, too. It wasn't easy. I just got small snippets of events through the shimmers of the River and sometimes I wouldn't know exactly what they meant until… pshh… days- sometimes whole weeks later. But, from your old man to you, Helena, take it from me…" Jaune pulled Helena into his lap and scooted the both of them closer to Dusk, turning to stare off at the flaring halo of the sun still behind the horizon. "... The more you practice swimming in the River, the easier it becomes to know how to navigate it. You'll get there. I promise you, the _both_ of you."

"Yeah, but Dusk is _way_ better at it than I am right now, papa. Him and his weird _strings_ and _ropes_ ," said Helena, playfully spitting out the words at Dusk and smiling when he did.

"Well, don't put yourself down, Helena. If you weren't here, neither of us would be able to compare what we saw. That's pretty important," said Dusk with a modest shrug and a smile.

"'Comparing?'" said Jaune with an amazed laugh. "You two compare what you see? You two can do that?"

Dusk nodded. "I can feel her beside me sometimes when we're both looking into the strands, feel her 'sight' looking over the same things as me. Then we dip back out and see if we're on the same page or not. It's really fun, actually."

Jaune huffed, impressed. "Amazing."

"Yeah, but sometimes I can feel Dusk flowing through the River to places where I can't see him anymore. He doesn't want to talk to me about what he sees there, but he always goes upstream when he does," said Helena. Her statement diminished the light-hearted demeanor Dusk wore on his face as he turned his resulting frown down towards the ground.

Helena's smile waned as she watched her friend glower, then she turned to Jaune and placed her small hands on his shoulders. "Papa…"

"Hmm?" hummed Jaune, turning to face his daughter. "What is it, baby?"

"This… is one of the moments Dusk and I agreed on. I have to go back to the house while you talk to him about what he sees when he goes upstream. There's no other way for this to happen," said Helena.

Her tone and the look in her eyes as she spoke to her father sent shivers down Jaune's spine. So _this_ is what it's like to be on the receiving end, Jaune quipped to himself in his head. Jeez, it really _is_ freaky.

"I will, honey," muttered Jaune in an awe-struck reply.

Helena only smiled as she planted a tiny kiss on Jaune's cheek, then walked over to Dusk to give him a loving hug Jaune knew only Helena could give.

"Make sure you don't hide anything this time, you hear me?" ordered Helena, reminding Jaune of her mother. "I know what you saw was serious, and my dad's the only one who can help you with these kinds of things."

"I know, Helena. Thanks for practicing with me, again," replied Dusk, chuckling warmly as he accepted his childhood friend's embrace.

Helena departed, the sound of her bare feet as they disturbed the grass growing softer and softer until it disappeared entirely behind the cover of the forest beyond. Jaune scooted himself closer to Dusk and stopped, turning back to the brightening pre-dawn sky with a contented sigh.

"So what is it?"

Dawn turned to Jaune, puzzled. "I'm sorry?"

"Well, I can tell when something's on your mind, Dusk, and I don't need to use my Semblance to know that about you," answered Jaune with a warm grin. "So what's the matter?"

Dusk's eyes flickered down to the ground in thought. After a few moments of silence, he pulled his knees into his chest and sighed like an old man. "Do you think… there's a reason why I see things like strings instead of the rivers you and Helena see, Mr. Arc?"

Jaune chuckled from the question, patted Dusk gently on his shoulder. "I don't think there'll ever be an answer to that one, Dusk. I mean, from what your mother and father told me, your Semblance is something much more than even _my_ abilities."

Beneath his hand, Jaune could feel a little bit of tension leave Dusk's shoulders. The two rivers continued to split the flowing water evenly between themselves, both continuing their respective journeys to different ends.

Then, Dusk clenched his fists softly. "It… was an arrow."

Jaune turned to Dusk. "What?"

"It was an arrow," repeated Dusk, still staring out to the split of the river as he spoke. "I saw it in my dream. The arrow that flew at the top of the fallen spire."

Jaune's heart grew cold. He'd remembered that description many years ago from a half-remembered dream. He couldn't be… could he? "Dusk… what are you talking about?"

"Missus Arc was shot in the chest with an arrow by the woman called 'Cinder,'" said Dusk in a clear, affirmative voice. He turned up to Jaune with a knowing, almost pleading look in his large golden eyes. "I saw it in a dream I had last night, but… it felt so real."

Jaune couldn't speak, couldn't even show the sheer amount of surprise he felt on the inside through his expression. He could only stare wordlessly back at Dusk as he shook his head and tried to think of something else to say. He couldn't, and so opted to instead to turn and look back out at the two rivers beyond. "So… that's what you saw last night?"

"Yes…" Dusk didn't need much indication to know Mr. Arc knew more about this dream than he was letting on. But as he thought about Jaune's reluctance to address the dream, the revelation suddenly came upon him of the reason why.

"You…" whispered Dusk in disbelief, "You created this world when you saved her... didn't you?"

Jaune tried to hide the wince in his expression from Dusk's eyes. He didn't succeed.

"Missus Arc… was supposed to die on the first night of The Cataclysm, wasn't she?" asked Dusk, the idea more horrifying when he heard the words coming out of his own mouth. "Marius, Helena, and Eponine… they were never-?"

Jaune turned back to Dusk, a smile on his face and an amused chuckle rumbling beneath his breast. "Really now? I wouldn't know about that. I woke up this morning to find my wife sitting next to me holding little Eponine in her arms!"

Dusk winced. "Mr. Arc, please…" he began, but was cut off when Jaune's calloused hand descended gently upon his shoulder. An overwhelming peace overcame Dusk where Jaune's palm rested and he felt as though he could slip into his 'sight' at that very instant. Mr. Arc had suddenly become the king of secrets, and Dusk felt that should he speak, the key to everything would never be pulled from his host's pocket to allow him a look at the truth… whatever it may be.

"Dusk," asked Jaune with a tired, paternal sigh, "How do Helena and I describe what we see?"

Dusk's face scrunched itself in confusion, but answered his question regardless. "Uh… Like a river, with endlessly branching rivers and distributaries that are sometimes other rivers within themselves."

"Mmhm, and remind me how you see it, Dusk?"

"Like strings," answered Dusk, half lost in his own imagination as he spoke. "An infinite amount of strings that bundle up into ropes that when I zoom out are strings wrapped up in even larger ropes."

Jaune thought about this for a moment, then smiled, took a breath, and said, "See, Dusk, what I think it might be… and this is just me completely guessing right now… but have you ever seen the string that you come from? The place where you know your present resides when you start seeing with your 'sight?'"

Dusk blushed, turning his face down in embarrassment. "N-No, sir. Sorry, I never thought…"

"No, no, Dusk, it's fine if you haven't! It's just… go back into your sight right now, real quick, and let me know what you see," said Jaune with a wink. "I'll be right beside you the whole time."

Dusk hesitated for a moment, then nodded and shut his eyes.

Using the calm emanating from Mr. Arc's palm, Dusk felt his 'sight' pulse forth from his forehead and then turned it down to his chest. From his Aura shot forth a tiny point of light fine and thin as a string of silk pulled taut. Using Mr. Arc's training, he concentrated on it until he felt only his string spreading out faintly forward. The longer he concentrated, the more his surroundings fell into the same threaded pattern as his own until an entire ocean's worth of strings was collected all around him. He always felt like an ant standing on the surface of a massive rope, and the thought would have made him giggle had the sight not always made him feel so inhumanly tiny compared to the rest of time, itself.

"Good," said Jaune's familiar voice beside him, coming from a pale blue dot beside Dusk that he knew must be Mr. Arc's Aura hovering above him. "Now just keep your focus on me and I'll pull us both back a little bit. Just enough for you to see."

It was strange, but Dusk imagined reaching a hand out to Mr. Arc and a hand reaching back in turn. When the grip was secure, Dusk felt the strings beneath him vanish as he was pulled up into the void between the strands. Further and further he went, seeing his home line diminishing into a string itself.

Dusk gasped. A turgid rope large and long as a celestial river glowed a throbbing ruby red just out to the side beside his miniscule home line.

"Mother-lines." He'd thought about such an entity, though he never thought he'd see one as expansive as this one. He'd thought _his_ home line might have been one, but this… this was something else. _This_ was the real deal.

It flowed back behind him for a seemingly infinite amount of distance behind him while from it, all along its length, sprouted other small strings like branches in a massive oak. As he looked closely at them, he could see images flashing in the crystalline blood-red of the mother-line of what _was,_ and then he'd travel up one of the many branches to see woven within many simpler, budding thoughts and ideas of what those images in the mother-line _could have been_. The golden strings always sprouting from the mother, yellow burning gold out of a red like roses.

And then, Dusk could see what made his own home-line distinctly unlike all the others connected to the mother-line: It wasn't connected to it at all. All it was, all it had ever been from what he could see, was a single golden strand of fate neatly severed from a throbbing portion of the mother-line, wherein he could see the image of Mrs. Arc being shot point-blank with an arrow through her heart-

"Open your eyes, Dusk."

Dusk did.

His slitted eyes softened back to normal as he watched the morning Sun's first rays beginning to pierce the far-off hills beyond the two rivers. It blinded Dusk for a brief moment, then he basked in its warmth, breathed in its beauty in a way he'd never done before.

"You _made_ this world," breathed Dusk with a small, disbelieving chuckle. Jaune's hand lifted from his shoulder and Dusk turned to Mr. Arc with a bright, wondrous look on his face.

But his excitement faltered when Dusk saw a sad, tired smile stretch across Mr. Arc's lips. In that moment, Jaune appeared so very, very old to the eleven-year-old boy. In that moment, Dusk understood Jaune's actions were not to be taken lightly, even as Jaune said with a trembling breath, "At a cost, Dusk. At a great cost."

Dusk was silent. He placed his hands on his knees and kept his eyes trained on the distant shore across the mother river. It dawned on him, for whatever reason, he'd never been on that side of the river. He wondered arbitrarily if he ever would. It was a strange thing to ponder and Dusk knew it even while he thought about it. But even so…

"Oh!"

Dusk whipped around as Jaune cried out in spontaneous revelation, his entire focus trained on his teacher. "Mr. Arc? What is it?"

"I think I may know why you see it the way you do, Dusk. Why you see strings and not streams like Helena and I do," said Jaune with an excited glint in his eye.

"Why, Mr. Arc?" asked Dusk, his eyes wide with wonder.

The revelation left Jaune feeling inexplicably giddy, and he laid out his legs on the slope of the hill to lean back on his side. "Whelp, one; because it's a different Semblance, it probably just works different because it _is_ different; but two…" As Jaune settled himself down with a sigh, he turned and smiled warmly at Dusk, "... I think it's because you were born in this little island of a world I made. Helena has my ability by blood, but _your_ Semblance comes from absolutely nowhere, and I think it's in that randomness why you were born with this ability of yours, Dusk."

Dusk's face crinkled a little, still a tad confused. "And I was born with this ability because…?"

Jaune simply shrugged. "Dunno. For a hundred million billion trillion different reasons or maybe just one. But here you are, Dusk. A little boy on a little island looking out at all the stars in all the different universes that could be, branching from one that _was_." Again, Jaune turned and smiled at Dusk. "And all of the infinite futures that are now completely your own to make."

Dusk was silent for a few moments. The waters of the rivers continued to trickle gently by, leading to anyplace Dusk could imagine, if he only dared to wonder…

"And theirs," murmured Dusk.

"Hmm?" hummed Jaune. "Whose?"

"You know, Marius, Helena, Eponine. Missus Arc," said Dusk, lifting his head to reveal a warm smile beneath his golden eyes. "You gave them their own futures, too. It's like..."

It was Jaune's turn to be silent. The moment passed, and Jaune laid down on the rustling grass with a smile across his face. The answer came to them both at the same time.

"A half-remembered dream."

The two seers laughed gently, surrendering to the silence the area seemed to cultivate naturally. It was some time before Jaune remembered it was his job to make breakfast, and he asked Dusk if he was willing to join him, to which the boy agreed. The two walked back, Jaune offering his hand and Dusk taking it as his teacher guided him back home.

But just as Jaune stepped into the forest, he felt Dusk stop behind him with a soft tug of his arm.

"You know what, Mr. Arc?" quipped Dusk.

"What?" asked Jaune.

Jaune turned to look at the boy. Dusk was admiring the rising sun as the budding morning brought forth a brand new day.

"It's not the real world," answered Dusk, turning and smiling at Jaune, "But it's a good one, anyways."

Jaune had never seen the boy appear as wise in his entire life as he did in that moment. On the one hand, it felt as though it was Dusk saying the words from the depth of his being, but on the other, it was as though another was speaking through him. An entity beyond both their understanding who was seemingly telling him that things would be alright.

The wisdom and the finality passed to Jaune to calm his concerns, and he smiled back at Dusk.

"I think it is, too."

Jaune walked with Dusk back to the cottage. Back to the love of his life, to the woman he'd spend the rest of his days loving with all of his heart and soul, and to the wonderful family he'd raised with her by his side.

Back to his secluded cottage in the forest, by the split in the river.

The End

xXx

 **A/N: Sorry, just let me regain my bearings real quick.**

 **This is the first story I've ever written that I can actually say I've actually completed.**

 **Just… Just gimme a sec…**

 ***Inhales and exhales rhythmically to keep from screaming like a little schoolgirl***

 **Alright… Alright, I'm- I think I'm good.**

 **So yeah.**

 **There it is. The very end.**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading it half as much as I did writing it. And I hope that this doesn't mark the end of the time we spend together. I have so much more to show all you gals and guys than just fluffy, shipping fanfiction in the days to come.**

 **I hope you'll be there to see it. I have a feeling you're all gonna like it, whatever it may be. Call it intuition. ;)**

 **In the meantime, I implore you all to read my other two fanfictions, "Black Sun Kittens" and "Eternal Autumn," and give them at least half the faves, follows, and reviews you've given this story if you can manage. I can promise that if you enjoyed this one, regardless of whether you like the BlackSun ship or not, there will be something in either of those two stories that you will all immensely enjoy.**

 **For more on the production statuses of my fanfictions, check out my Tumblr: "To Write is Human, To Edit is Divine".**

 ***(Chapter Soundtrack)***

" _ **The Garden"**_ **– Rush,** _ **"Clockwork Angels"**_

" _ **Fountain of Life"**_ **– Two Steps from Hell,** _ **"Miracles"**_

" _ **Love Songs For Robots"**_ **– Patrick Watson,** _ **"Love Songs For Robots"**_

" _ **Big Bird in a Small Cage"**_ **– Patrick Watson,** _ **"Wooden Arms"**_

" _ **Vigil"**_ **– Jack Wall,** _ **"Mass Effect: Original Soundtrack"**_

" _ **Burn it to the Ground," "Time Travel"**_ **– Michael Andrews,** _ **"Donnie Darko"**_

" _ **Finale"**_ **– Danny Elfman,** _ **"The Kingdom"**_

 **-[Optional Songs]-**

" _ **Road to Chicago"**_ **– Thomas Newman,** _ **"Road to Perdition"**_

" _ **Halo Effect"**_ **– Rush,** _ **"Clockwork Angels"**_

" _ **Flowers in Your Hair," "Stubborn Love"**_ **– The Lumineers,** _ **"The Lumineers"**_

" _ **Take Us Back"**_ **– Alela Diane,** _ **"To Be Still"**_

" _ **Fare Thee Well (Dink's Song)"**_ **– Oscar Isaac,** _ **"Inside Llewyn Davis: Original Soundtrack"**_

" _ **The Rain Song"**_ **– Led Zepplin,** _ **"Houses Of The Holy"**_

" _ **Once There Was a Hushpuppy"**_ **– Dan Romer,** _ **"Beasts of the Southern Wild"**_

" _ **Where We're Going"**_ **– Hans Zimmer,** _ **"Interstellar: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"**_

" _ **Deborah's Theme"**_ **– Ennio Morricone,** _ **"Once Upon a Time in America"**_ _ **(HEAVILY recommend this one as an alternative to "Finale" by Danny Elfman.)**_

" _ **From The Beginning"**_ **– Emerson, Lake, & Palmer, **_**"Trilogy"**_

 **Thanks a million again for reading.**

 **To the future ahead, and until next time,**

 **-M.E. Grimm**


End file.
